"Payphone" Maroon ft. Wiz Khalifa

Maroon 5 shot to stardom in the early 2004 on the strength of melodic pop-rock like "This Love" and "She Will Be Loved." But recent years have seen attempts at edgier fare, dwindling album sales, and then, last summer, an unexpected #1 smash—the fairly mediocre dance-pop jam "Moves Like Jagger"—following singer Adam Levine's coaching stint on The Voice. So what a relief that new song "Payphone," the lead single from the band's upcoming album, Overexposed, returns to what Maroon 5 does best. Featuring a tinkling piano, Levine's soaring falsetto and a massive refrain, it is both vaguely romantic ("All of my change I spent on you") and slightly douchey ("All those fairytales are full of shit")—a dynamic that Levine has somehow pulled off effortlessly for the last decade. Judging by its quick ascent to the top of iTunes, "Payphone" will be huge, and even with an utterly unnecessary Wiz Khalifa cameo, I don't think I'll mind hearing it all over pop radio all summer long. A-