Nobody saw this one coming. When it comes to huge album releases and the security around them, everybody's eyes have been on Coldplay's Viva La Vida, especially since we've just given away the exclusive physical vinyl version of their comeback single "Violet Hill" on the cover of this week's all-new NME.

The talk has been of a departure, a braver endeavour than the blustery but hollow X&Y, which even the band themselves don't have things to say about in our interview this week. The signs, certainly, are looking good. "Violet Hill" is brave in all the good ways, but still unmistakably themselves.

But at the start of the week, our minds were jolted from the Coldplay debate by the shock news that rough versions of three songs intended for Oasis's autumn-due new album had leaked online. Which is cataclysmic news for all involved. "Nothin' On Me," "I Wanna Live The Dream (In A Record Machine)," and the long-gestating "Stop The Clocks" were all quickly pulled offline, but our eager newshounds were able to listen to them for that brief period on Tuesday. Here's what they thought.

http://www.nme.com/news/oasis/36429

"Nothin' On Me"
A relentless crunchy riff from Noel Gallagher and a sneery nasal vocal from Liam characterise this rollocking new Oasis song. It's a meaty return for the band, more Led Zeppelin-inspired than their more subtle recent work, such as "The Importance Of Being Idle." "They got nothing on me," Liam repeats, "I don't care what they say - all I want is the truth." A forceful return from the Gallaghers, although lacking the smash'n'grab choruses of some of their other anthems.

"I Wanna Live A Dream (In My Record Machine)"
Opening with a soft tambourine shake cut through by Noel Gallagher's sombre acoustic guitar, Noel sings John Lennon-style vocals on this quieter number. Tambourine and bells rattling in the background throughout give a Doors-esque edge to the affair, with drummer Zak Starkey's glammy stomp pumping in a minute in to add weight to the song. "Take Me, back to the darkness where they sent me," Noel Gallagher sings on this subtle yet uplifting and punchy number. "I want to live the dream," he sings on an uprising chorus, "I want a piece of the world," before weighty piano stabs add to the build. Towards the death a classically understated Noel Gallagher riff brings the song home. Understated yet upliftingly epic, it's a song of fine balance and poise.

"Stop The Clocks"
Noel Gallagher is a huge fan of this song, naming their 2006 'Best Of' album after it. Noel sings lead vocals over urgent acoustic strums, while a psychedelic guitar sound effect again adds a Doors-esque element to the intro. Noel cuts in over his own more conventional vocals with an echo-effect voice sample before his bandmates add to the build by adding layered backing vocals. It's a lighters-in-the-air moment for sure, although without the immediacy of a "Wonderwall" or "Don't Look Back In Anger."

"Stop the clocks and turn the world around," he sings. "Let your love lay me down..."

"When the night is over there'll be no sound," he continues in a Lee Mavers-esque repetitive croon, before a drumbeat pounds and clatters towards a riffy crescendo, with a sudden twang to finish.

Did you hear the phantom Oasis tracks this week? Let us know your thoughts about where the band is going below.