Major Lazer on Justin Bieber Collab 'Cold Water' & Pop-Leaning New Album

Major Lazer may have just released their latest single "Cold Water" featuring Justin Bieber and MØ, but there is a lot more in store from the trio comprised of Diplo, Walshy Fire, and Jillionaire. "Cold Water" is the first of many new songs to come off their upcoming album Music Is The Weapon -- the follow-up to their 2015 album Peace Is The Mission, which hit No. 1 on the US Billboard Dance/Electronic Albums chart. All three members of Major Lazer recently stopped by iHeartRadio HQ in New York City where they talked to us about their latest single, and gave an update on their forthcoming record.

Like their previous collaboration "Lean On" with MØ and DJ Snake, "Cold Water" is a little more pop-leaning than what we're used to hearing from Major Lazer. The song strongly boasts the group's tropical dancehall style rhythm, but also includes some guitar riffs and a synth melody that blend perfectly with the lyrics. "Cold Water" is definitely a contender for "Song of the Summer."

"Cold Water" features the vocals of Justin Bieber, who Diplo has worked with in the past on previous hits like "Where Are Ü Now," as well as Danish singer/songwriter MØ, who is featured on Major Lazer's chart-topping collab with DJ Snake "Lean On." Aside from the talented signers, the track was co-produced by Major Lazer with Ed Sheeran (who in December announced to fans he was taking some time off), and Benny Blanco.

With everyone involved in the new single on the songwriting, production, and vocals, you can definitely call "Cold Water" a star-studded collaboration. Diplo even says "all the stars aligned" for the project, and the group made sure they were strategic about the timing to release the new summertime tune.

On releasing their new song "Cold Water"

On the sound of their upcoming album Music Is The Weapon

"Cold Water" is only the beginning of new music for Major Lazer. The guys have been working on their upcoming album Music Is The Weapon for a while, and it sounds like fans are in store for something epic. The group tells us that the music that will be featured on their new album will be very diverse, including more pop-leaning songs, club and dance songs, and even some underground-style songs.

"Our last album was really diverse. We had pop stuff like "Light It Up, we had "Lean On," we had the crazy records that we play live out in the festivals. This is kind of a pop-leaning record, but right now, pop on the radio is very dancehall oriented, so we thought we'd be part of it. We've always been doing dancehall as Major Lazer. So, the album is going to have quite a bit of unusual records. We'll have some pop stuff, we'll have some club stuff, some dance stuff, and some underground stuff, too."

Major Lazer tells us they are hoping to have Music Is the Weapon out this coming January, but that fans should expect more singles to be released before the year is over.

On collaborations for the new album

If you're wondering what else to expect from the record, you should definitely prepare yourself for some unique collaborations. The guys recently mentioned artists like Sia, Usher, country star Sam Hunt, and Travi$ Scott as possible features on their forthcoming new album, but if you've been paying attention to Snapchat, there are quite a few other artists the trio has been working with also. Back in March, Diplo was spotted on the social network talking about a collaboration with Lukas Graham, as well as in the studio with Fifth Harmony's Camila Cabello. We'll have to wait for an official track list to find out for sure who will be appearing on Music Is The Weapon, because although they Snap artists they work with, it doesn't always mean the songs will end up on the record.

Photos: Katherine Tyler for iHeartRadio