American Idol season 6 winner Jordin Sparks unveiled her first single "Battlefield" off her as-of-yet untitled sophomore studio album.

Battlefield serves as the lead single from Sparks’ as-of-yet untitled second studio album, which is due July 14, 2009. She unveiled the single live on the Top 3 results show of American Idol on May 13, 2009 (click here to watch the video).

The mid-tempo R&B track was written and produced by Grammy nominated producer/songwriter and OneRepublic frontman Ryan Tedder, whose long list of accolades includes hits for fellow American Idol Kelly Clarkson, Beyoncé, Leona Lewis, Natasha Bedingfield and Timbaland.

The song was released to the US iTunes Store on May 12, 2009 (click here for the music and lyrics).

The single has been recieved extremely well by fans (supported by strong performance on US iTunes store) and has so far received only favorable reviews from high profiled critics.

Pop Justice:“To start with you think ‘this isn’t up to much’ then by the end of it you think ‘this is going to be Number One for precisely 2.5 months’. There is a brilliant middle eight where everything falls out and it’s just Jordin bellowing “like a battlefield! Like a battlefield!” and then it all crashes back in and then it all falls out again and then it all goes back in again and it’s all jolly good.”

New York Post said “the single is simply pure pop magic.”

Digital Spy said Battlefield is “co-written and produced by OneRepublic frontman Ryan Tedder, the man behind ‘Bleeding Love’ and ‘Halo’. It does bear a passing resemblance to the latter, but it’s more bombastic, more overblown and, well, just plain better.Sparks asks ‘Why does love always feel like a battlefield’, presumably awaiting a response from eighties rock queen Pat Benatar. Actually, Benatar isn’t a bad starting point when describing what ‘Battlefield’ sounds like. It’s got desk-rattling drums, lashings of guitar, a corking vocal performance, lyrics that really go to town with the “love is war” metaphor and a production job that’s as subtle as Lady GaGa’s dress sense. It’s essentially a classic soft rock ballad pumped full of steroids and given a gleaming noughties makeover. Oh, and when Sparks sang it on American Idol last night, she did so in true soft rock fashion – surrounded by industrial quantities of dry ice. Number one surely beckons.”

Female First said “So in truth, I have heard Of Jordin Sparks, and loved her, but never put two and two together to realise how bloody epic she was! But now, I promise you, I’ll never leave her again, as her latest single, Battlefield is, to say the least, incredible. You know when you hear a song once and think, ‘Oh my god, this is amazing?’ well, Battlefield is one of those songs. From the build-up of the verses to the epic chorus that is just made to be sung in arena’s all over the world; the greatness of this song can really not be summed up in words.”

Check out the music and lyrics of Battlefield in Star Tube.