Firstly, our very best wishes to Roger Waters on the occasion of his 61st birthday today. Many happy returns!

We've had a number of emails commenting on Roger's two new songs, made available to stream on his website - RogerWaters.com - mostly very favourable. It has whetted the appetite of many of his fans for his forthcoming album, which should be available within the next year or two.

The songs are certainly striking, and quite different in style. "Leaving Beirut", in particular, with its narrative structure intersperced with a traditional chorus, has surprised many people.

The two songs will be available to download from a number of "download partners" -

BuyMusic, iTunes, MusicMatch, MusicNet, MusicNow, Napster, Real / Rhapsody, SonyConnect, and Walmart.com.

We have been told that the retail version of the tracks will be of higher quality than the free ones on Roger's site, although we are still waiting on the price for these tracks. This detail will be apparent tomorrow when the sites above start selling the tracks.