New single 'Take Control (Don't Let 'Em)' from upcoming Sean MacLeod album

Take Control (Don’t Let ‘Em) is the opening track on Sean MacLeod's upcoming album That's When the Earth Becomes a Star and the fourth single to be released from it.

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Single: Take Control (Don't Let 'Em)

Artist: Sean MacLeod

Released: February 14 2026

Legend has it that on the day Morrissey and Marr met for the first time, the latter, when invited by the former to choose a side to play from his extensive 7" single collection, chose an obscure Marvelettes b side You’re The One. Partly I’m sure to impress upon Morrissey how serious he was about music, but also because he wanted their fledgling band to be pop oriented.

Never having met Sean T McLeod I can’t be certain, yet I feel he is he is cut from the same cloth. The man has pop smarts in his DNA, like a stick of rock with its seaside origin emblazoned through the centre.

This particular chorus has a Roy Orbison feel ... and pulls off the neat trick of pairing a serious lyric with a melody so sweet that even the would be controllers could be singing along.

On The Smiths first single, Marr wanted a nod to The Beatles so Hand In Glove opens with a harmonica just like Love Me Do. The new MacLeod single Take Control (Don't Let 'Em) opens with an ascending chord sequence not unlike The Cure's early pop outlier Boys Don't Cry.

The parenthetical title is another nod to classic single culture; this most democratic of music formats has a long history of song names with brackets. Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone You Shouldn't've), (Marie's the Name) His Latest Flame, (The Best Part Of) Breakin' Up. Stop me if you think you've heard this one before.

Take Control (Don't Let 'Em) is the fourth single taken from his soon to be released album That's When the Earth Becomes a Star. Even when he ventures into more avant-garde territory as on previous single I Know Not, you're never more than a few bars from a killer chorus. And so it is here. This particular one has a Roy Orbison feel - think You Got It - and pulls off the neat trick of pairing a serious lyric (don't let 'em take control, don't let 'em take your soul) with a melody so sweet that even the (unspecified) would be controllers could be singing along.

We are very much looking forward to the album release. Watch this space.

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