“’Tough Kid’ is a really special song to us,” say the duo. “We’ve been holding on to this song for a while and as we’re putting it out now, it almost seems like our younger selves are teaching us this lesson all over again. The song is about feeling scared that you’re not able to keep up, like you’re all scrambled up and overwhelmed and ten steps behind everyone else. It’s about wanting to be able to handle everything and not understanding how it seems like everyone else can do it all. The song is a wish to talk yourself out of your insecurities. We hope that it can be a safe spot for anyone feeling that way – we’ve been there and we hope the song can be a reminder to trust your own instincts and believe in yourself and allow yourself space to mess up.”

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Singer-songwriter OLI is back with lush soundscapes and feel-good pop songwriting on the new single, ‘Float’. The London based artist’s powerful vocals pierce through the melancholic piano backing, forming a dancing melody that puts the layers of OLI’s incredible voice front and centre. ‘Float’ is the first new music to arrive from OLI since her acclaimed duet with Depeche Mode’s Dave Gahan ‘Does That Hurt’, which was released earlier this year. The song begins with intensity, the keys echoing as it progresses, swelling to an outburst of falsetto backing and peaceful rhythmic textures on the chorus. Lyrics filled with emotion and longing on “If I could float up I would see it all how I know I should” tackle the dreamlike aspect of the song as OLI incorporates themes of satisfaction, positivity, space, and wonder on the downbeat pop track. “My dad actually came up with the lead melody, he was playing around on guitar and sent me the idea.” Says OLI, who started her alt-pop songwriting journey as a child growing up in a musical family. “It made me think of all those feel-good Disney songs that leave you really happy and satisfied at the end. The idea of Floating up above everything and everyone fit so perfectly with it too. I think it’s something many people imagine. We are pretty small in the grand scheme of things so it’s easy to feel existential from time to time. I just wanted the song to paint that emotion in a more positive way. I personally take a lot of comfort in knowing how much there is out there.” The new single is also released alongside a visually remarkable Heini Susanne directed music video, which sees the contrast of childlike wonder and summer days with pensive nights by the water in the stunning wilderness settings: “I am extremely proud of the video. It was filmed in Finland by the production company Cocoa. We wanted it to seem slightly dreamy but also darker. Heini and I took inspiration from ‘where the wild things are’ which I think really shows in the end product.”

Taylor Swift has released a new video for ‘Bejeweled’. It follows the video for ‘Anti-Hero’ which dropped last week. Swift shared her 10th studio album Midnights last Friday, October 21. In usual form, the Cinderella-style visual has Taylor joined by famous friends including Danielle, Alana and Este Haim, Laura Dern, Jack Antonoff, Pat McGrath and Dita Von Teese. Eagle eyed fans have spotted that in a previous trailer for the Midnights visuals, imagery appears that we have not yet seen in the videos released so far, so it’s likely that at least one more will be on the way. In a still from the video, where differently coloured buttons in a lift reflect her discography, fans have also noted that the 13th button shares the colour with ‘Speak Now’, increasing speculation that Taylor’s Version of her 2010 album will be next re-record to arrive. [via Dork]

New York-based trio, Tchotchke releases the ‘50s-inspired music video for their single ‘Wish You Were a Girl,’ following the release of their self-titled debut album. The video, which stars band members Anastasia, Eva, and Emily as distraught runaway-brides and housewives, is a statement on rejecting traditional feminine ideologies. “The entire video plays with this fictitious smokey dollhouse world where the band runs away from all feminine responsibilities and forced ideologies,” director Ambar Navarro shares. Throughout ‘Wish You Were a Girl,’ we see the trio trapped within the confines of heteronormativity, and as it progresses, we see them grow increasingly frustrated, leading to their eventual escape from these age-old ideologies. [via FLOOD]

ella jane has spent the last few months teasing her sophomore EP Marginalia with a string of sugary, heart-pounding pop songs about chasing love and trying to hold onto it. But on ‘Warhol,’ the LA-based singer isn’t searching for a partner—she’s searching for herself. “I’ve been waiting forever to be noticed,” jane sings on the track, “I’ll keep twisting the image ’til I’m not myself at all.” The final cut on the EP is a tender but confident piano number about shapeshifting into someone new and then trying to figure out which version of yourself fits best. “I originally planned for it to be a song about this guy who told me I reminded him of his girlfriend—something kind of fun and stupid,” she shares. “But soon the line ‘’Cause lately I don’t have a shape / I’m blurry lines without a face’ spilled out, and it quickly became obvious that I was writing about myself. I’ve always been a big believer in ‘fake it ’til’ you make it, but the acceptance of my public persona—a much more confident, self-assured girl—as me has made me question who the real ‘me’ actually is. So in short, this song is an exploration of that.” [via FLOOD]

Last fall, Adele returned with 30. The formidable piece of work revealed the singer at her most vulnerable and human, sharing intimate recordings about regrets, panic, and familial love. Now, she’s reminded us that it’s nearly been a year since the release of her most personal album by dropping a video for the Eltonian ballad ‘I Drink Wine’ that was directed by Joe Talbot. Here, in a fairytale forest, Adele lives out one of my dreams: Floating down a lazy river in a couture gown with bottomless rosé at the snap of a finger. And even though it sounds perfect, there’s a sense that this fantasy is too good to be true. “They say to play hard, you work hard / Find balance in the sacrifice / Yet I don’t know anybody / Who’s truly satisfied,” she sings as she passes a charming fisherman who catches her eye. Later, he swims to her and is pushed away by the synchronized swimmers guarding Adele with libations in hand. By the end, Adele wants out of this adult version of the boozy It’s a Small World ride, rejecting the delusion of ego. Heavy stuff. [via FLOOD]

Seattle-based songwriter Puck is among a unique category of artists whose musical career has unfolded in a particularly non-linear fashion. Their debut record Best Friend is set to arrive next month, yet they’ve already performed on SNL and toured the country performing massive headlining gigs playing keyboard and contributing backing vocals to an impressive list of artists most notably including SZA and Maggie Rogers. Yet with Best Friend, Puck is free to follow their own path, with new single ‘Trapped’ demonstrating just how raw and out-there their songwriting instincts can be. The opening track and second single from the collection sets the scene for the record both by spotlighting Puck’s vocal talents and intriguing synth palette while introducing a lyrical “Shakespearean chorus” narrating the full lifespan of a doomed toxic relationship. “I wrote chords that are reminiscent of Michael McDonald,” Puck shares, citing influences on the new single. “Thundercat’s first record, The Golden Age of the Apocalypse, is one of my favorites of all time and was a huge influence for me. The drums are sampled from drum machines lent to Lily Wen and I by Gotye, whose studio was upstairs from Figure 8 where we were recording.” Watch the Devin Gant–directed video for the track, which weaves together reality, fantasy, and horror elements over the course of the track’s five minutes as Puck is seen getting lost in thought as the ice cream slowly drips off their cone and down their hand. [via FLOOD]

Electro-pop powerhouse artist Dragonette, aka songwriter/producer Martina Sorbara, returns with the final focus track ‘T-Shirt’, lifted from the new full-length album Twennies out now through BMG. Regarding ‘T-Shirt’ she added, “This song came together so fast that I can barely remember the process of writing it. Every songwriter has had the experience of leaving the studio to get a drink or take a pee and inadvertently coming back with one of the missing keys to the song. I have a strong memory of that with the chorus of this song. But I literally have no memory of writing the verses. It’s like they pre-existed the session. Every song writer has that experience as well. The result is feeling like you just got given a present, out of nowhere, and it’s not even your birthday. I love this song for its lush cuddle of warmness while lyrically it most definitely does not want to cuddle.”

London indie pop songwriter Eaves Wilder returns with new melter ‘I Stole Your Jumper’. 2022 ends with a bang for the London artist, who has just inked a deal with independent powerhouse Secretly Canadian. It follows a string of impeccable singles, fusing indie rock tropes with pop to create a raucous yet melodic sound. A full EP is slated to land in January, with Eaves opting to kick off her new era with ‘I Stole Your Jumper’. A rabid, three-minute cruncher, it’s a song about the pettiness of a break-up, and learning to re-assert yourself in fresh ways. Thirsting for revenge, ‘I Stole Your Jumper’ amplifies her early charms, laying down a marker for what could follow. As she puts it, “it’s a very British and passive aggressive revenge fantasy.” [via Clash]

A couple years back, the Los Angeles band Suzie True released their charming debut album, Saddest Girl At The Party. Now, they’re back with their first new track since then, the fuzzy and bright ‘Backburner.’ “I wanna get drunk on the metro/ Yeah, I wanna cause a scene/ Want you to kiss me in the rain/ Like some romantic comedy,” goes one of its punchy, ramshackle verses. “I wanted ‘Backburner’ to feel really sentimental both lyrically and musically,” the band’s Lexi McCoy said in a statement. “The song is about being in love with someone who keeps you on the ‘backburner’ instead of prioritizing you. You would do anything for them, but they don’t really care about you, they’re just having fun and toying with your emotions in the process.” McCoy continued: “Once all the instruments come in, the song feels like it takes off running, like how your imagination might run wild with dreams of being with this person in the song. The choruses slow down to feel sad and melancholy, coming to terms with the fact that you’re being used by this person. We wanted the instrumentation to sound angsty but wistful—wistfully angsty!! The way it ends feels unsure and sad because that’s how the situation has led you to feel.” [via Stereogum]

SZA has finally released ‘Shirt,’ a single that she first teased on Instagram in early 2021; that snippet ended up going viral with an accompanying dance on TikTok, and SZA preformed the track for the first time in a livestream later that year. The track was also teased in the music video for SZA’s last proper single, ‘Good Days,’ a song that came out nearly two years ago. ‘Shirt’ is the latest (maybe) dispatch from SZA’s sophomore album, the long-awaited followup to 2017’s CTRL, which marked its 5th anniversary earlier this year with some bonus tracks. The song’s Dave Meyers-directed video, co-starring LaKeith Stanfield, ends with a lengthy tease of another new song called ‘Blind.’ There’s also a license plate with a “DEC” sticker in the corner, which has some fans speculating that a new SZA album called NO CTRL could be dropping in December. [via Stereogum]

After dates in New York, Boston, and Atlanta, Automatic have shared a new video for ‘Teen Beat’, taken from their new album Excess (out now via Stones Throw), On the song, the band explain “The title was taken from a preset on a dinky drum machine, and the song is about the chaos of climate change descending upon Gen Z.” [via Northern Transmissions]

Charlotte Adigéry & Bolis Pupul are closing out the year with a gauzy video for Topical Dancer track ‘Mantra.’ In a press release about the song, Adigéry and Pupul said, “’Mantra’ is a reworked version of our Yin Yang Self-Meditation, the audiovisual meditation tape which we released back in 2019. We used elements from this original recording in ‘Mantra’ such as the stream of consciousness and the the heartbeat which we sped up to use as one of the bass drums in ‘Mantra.’ Whereas Yin Yang Self-Meditation invites you to look inward, we invite you to express yourselves with ‘Mantra.’” [via Pitchfork]

There’s something breezy and refreshingly uncomplicated about the indie-pop sounds of Daisy the Great—even when the subject matter of their music delves into the complex realms of causality and relativity raised by the hypothetical existence of time travel. With their sophomore record All You Need Is Time out now, the pair are sharing one last single with the swooning sci-fi anthem ‘Time Machine,’ which Kelley Nicole Dugan and Mina Walker wrote alongside Coyle Girelli and Carter Matschullat—and which they call their favorite song they’ve ever written. “As we were all talking at the beginning of the session, Coyle brought up an article that he’d read that morning about a group of physicists who were researching the potential for electrons to move backwards into the recent past, which was being billed as evidence that time travel might be possible,” they recall. “We got so locked on that idea and we all kept talking for a really long time about time travel, fate, regret, second chances, loss, love… “Eventually,” they continue, “we started to imagine writing this giant song, set at the end of the world. Kel sat down at the piano and started playing these really epic, crunchy chords and Min started yelling ‘Are you listening to the clocks in this house / They are growling at me saying, how can it be that the whole world is falling apart.’ That became the intro, and then the rest quickly spilled out of us. After that day, the song became an immediate favorite in our tour set and we could not be more excited to be releasing it.” [via FLOOD]

Bad Waitress have released a video for their new song ‘Racket Stimulator’. The video was directed by Danny Alexander. The song appears to be a standalone single and is out now via Royal Mountain Records. Bad Waitress released No Taste in 2021. [via Punk News]

Dropping a string of singles throughout the year, Derbyshire-born but London-based singer and songwriter Sophie Kilburn releases her new EP Not Bitter, Just Bored via Luna Sky Recordings. A five-track collection detailing her journey through the stages of overcoming heartache, from the initial pain to rebuilding her self-worth and confidence, it’s a body of work that showcases Sophie’s best work to date. Listing influences through the decades including 70s rock icons Fleetwood Mac, 80s pop frontrunners Blondie and Kate Bush, and modern songwriters Haim and Lucy Dacus, Sophie’s stellar alt-pop-slash-rock makes for a thrilling listen – and this EP is solid proof of that. Rife with addictive pop melodies, the EP explores heartache in all its forms. Touching on heavy themes by diving into gender conditioning and internalising pressures that transform into harmful behaviours during adulthood, Not Bitter, Just Bored investigates unlearning these early behaviours to enable us to have healthy relationships in the future. The EP’s lead single, ‘Love Condition’ [produced by Lloyd Hinhelswood (Mabel, Liz Dawson, San Soucis)], takes the form of a raucous blend of guitars and hearty bass patterns that showcases the light-hearted side to Sophie’s songwriting. Wrapped in warm synths and punchy percussion, the single aims to empower those who are finding themselves. Watch the Blind Date-inspired video above. “I wanted to find the funny side of frustration of heartache because it gets to a point particularly with selfish or toxic behaviour that it is just so predictable,” Sophie explains. “We all want to be loved but all have habits that suggest otherwise.”

NYC-based singer, poet, and musician Stella Rose is making her official debut with an electrifying, yet haunting single entitled ‘Muddled Man,’ released alongside a theatrical accompanying video. Wrote Stella Rose of her debut single: “With anger as it’s mother and disorder begging on its knees, Muddled man, Is grease in a comb, Cowboy killers in the left jacket pocket, A murder of your most precious possession.” ‘Muddled Man’ was produced by Yves Rothman (Yves Tumor, Girlpool, Blondshell). Stay tuned for more music from Stella Rose, out via KRO Records.

Hamburg based artist and producer Deniz Çiçek aka Kraków Loves Adana and former Chromatics members Ruth Radelet & Adam Miller have shared their collaborative track ‘When The Storm Comes’. The song is the first single off Kraków Loves Adana’s upcoming 7th album Oceanflower, out February 14, which Çiçek wrote between the winter of 2020 and 2021 in her home studio. The announcement comes with a Wesley Doloris directed music video for ‘When The Storm Comes’, where the musicians filmed contributing scenes in Los Angeles and Hamburg. While exchanging several song ideas for the new record with Adam Miller the demo for ‘When The Storm Comes’ especially stood out. “I came up with the title and the chorus almost 10 years ago but never managed to build a proper song around it. When I showed the demo to Adam it immediately struck a chord with the both of us”, Çiçek remembers. Both melancholic and anthemic, the song is about overcoming hardships and looking optimistic into the future. Ruth Radelet shares on the collaboration: “I became friends with Krakow Loves Adana after playing some shows with them in 2019. I am a big fan of their music and they are fantastic people as well, so I was excited when Deniz asked me to contribute guest vocals on ‘When The Storm Comes’. Filming the video was a fun project too – Adam and I had a great time running around LA together, and I love how Wesley Doloris’ shots of us work so well with Deniz’s footage from Germany.”

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“I wrote ‘Liar’ about four years ago after hanging out with a friend that I had a really close but confusing relationship with,” says Daisy the Great’s Kelley Nicole Dugan. “‘Liar’ started as a giant run-on sentence in my notes app on my phone and the song is still basically that sentence. It’s about having a crush on a friend but being too scared to address the tension out loud, and how holding on to a secret like that really eats you up inside. I remember writing it all down as a big jumble of feeling frustrated, self-conscious, disingenuous, and ready to move on. We hope the song can give you guts when you need some, whether that means being vulnerable or letting go.”

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“‘Aluminum’ was actually the last song we wrote for the album,” say Daisy the Great’s Kelley Nicole Dugan and Mina Walker. “We wrote it with our pal Gabe Goodman, and it is about self-perception. It’s the feeling of time moving forward and taking a version of you with it that you don’t feel connected to – as if your social persona or personality, some shinier version of you, has taken over, and you don’t know how to be your real self anymore.

“The music video for ‘Aluminum,’ directed by Zach Tavel, is about an older set of twins coming to a breaking point in their relationship. We were talking with Zach about the meaning of the song – feeling stuck behind a version of yourself that doesn’t feel like you at your core – and we eventually landed on this idea of twins with a turbulent relationship. One twin seems to call the shots for both of them and the other’s resentment grows as she longs for independence and sense of self. And we are a mini band stuck in a jukebox at their house.”

All You Need Is Time:

1. Time Machine
2. Glitter
3. I’m Just Another Person Oh God
4. Aluminum
5. Cry In The Mirror
6. Tell Me Have You Been Dancing
7. Liar
8. I Don’t Wanna Fall
9. Easy
10. Routine
11. Smile Pretty Girl

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Bonnie Trash is the drone-rock project of Canadian-Italian twin sisters Emmalia and Sarafina Bortolon-Vettor. They’ve shared new single ‘Teeth’ – a first glimpse at their debut album, which is due to be released later this year by Hand Drawn Dracula. ‘Teeth’ sees Bonnie Trash at their poppiest, recontextualizing a ‘Be My Baby’ beat (a nod to Ronnie Spector up above) before a wash of swoony, microtonal drones, the words telling of a love story that might be toxic. The band share the track with a self-directed video, commenting: “We created a short film to help narrate stories our Nonna Maria told us about being haunted and followed by a curse in her hometown of San Zenone degli Ezzelini in Treviso, Italy. That short eventually became the concept of our album, which is woven into our first music video, ‘Teeth.’ Shot at the Apollo Cinema in Kitchener, Ontario, ‘Teeth’ bridges generations of being haunted – we see ourselves watching our work without understanding that we too have conjured the curse. A malocchio follows.”

Manchester’s very own Robin Knightz is back with a new single dubbed ‘It’s About Time’ alongside visuals. The 23-year-old riser has been turning heads up and down the country since releasing her single ‘Fiji Drip’ back in 2018. Now signed to Sony 5K Records, the young artist has her sights set and is someone that should definitely be on your radar. Releasing a brand new single, ‘It’s About Time’ alongside some vibrant visuals, Robin Knightz has once again blown us away. The artist signature style of rap and pop sound complements the neon futuristic visuals perfectly. [via GRM Daily]

Later this summer, TOPS keyboardist Marta Cikojevic is releasing her debut album as Marci. We’ve heard a pair of tracks from it already, ‘Entertainment’ and ‘Immaterial Girl,’ and now she’s back with another one, the gauzy and breezy ‘Terminal.’ “’Terminal’ is my joke vapid lingo about being dead because something is soooo cool,” Cikojevic explained. “The song is about how music can be so overwhelmingly good it allows you to fully escape. David [Carriere] and I wrote the seed of this song while we were pregaming for a party that turned out to be shit.” [via Stereogum]

Next month, Chicago’s Beach Bunny will release their sophomore album, Emotional Creature. So far, the indie-pop cover stars have shared lead single ‘Oxygen,’ ‘Fire Escape,’ ‘Karate’ (with a video featuring a cameo from Bob Odenkirk), and now they’re back with another new single and video: ‘Entropy.’ Like the previous Emotional Creature offerings, ‘Entropy’ is a Y2K-era pop-rock blast, full of melodic guitar riffs, which are punctuated by Lili Trifilio’s yearning vocals. The video, meanwhile, continues down the previously discussed sci-fi aesthetic, with the band crafting a full action-adventure storyline inspired by Star Wars and Star Trek. [via Stereogum]

The A’s is a duo featuring two thirds of Mountain Man: Amelia Meath (also of Sylvan Esso) and Alexandra Sauser-Monnig (also of Daughter of Swords). Their debut album Fruit comes out July 15 via Psychic Hotline, and it features new interpretations of “lullabies, traditional ballads and rural standards […] and other music that Meath and Sauser-Monnig simply love to sing,” plus the original song ‘When I Die.’ It was produced by The A’s and Amelia’s Sylvan Esso bandmate Nick Sanborn, and it was “made with a makeshift orchestra of nylon shorts, hair, shoes, ice chunk, gravel, frog samples and other unexpected objects.” It also features vocals, electronics, and more from Nick Sanborn, guest vocals from Jenn Wasner (Flock of Dimes, Wye Oak) on the original song ‘When I Die,’ backing vocals from Alli Rogers, string arrangements from Gabriel Kahane on ‘He Needs Me,’ saxophone from Sam Gendel on ‘Copper Kettle,’ and guitar from Alan Good Parker on ‘Swing and Turn Jubilee.’ The first two songs released are a rendition of Harry Nilsson and Shelley Duvall’s ‘He Needs Me’ from the 1980 Popeye movie, and a rendition of the DeZurik Sisters’ ‘Why I’m Grieving.’ The former is sweeping and vintage in an early 20th century pop kind of way, while the latter is a whimsical, yodeling a cappella. [via Brooklyn Vegan]

Pixey is back with her new single, ‘Come Around (Sunny Day)’. The Liverpool newcomer’s first new music since last October’s Sunshine State EP, it arrives ahead of a project coming later this year. “‘Come Around (Sunny Day)’ is a 90s style summer tune I wrote around looped guitars and breakbeat samples,” Pixel explains. “I wanted to create a tune with an upbeat vibe but with the lyrics keeping to a more anxious undertone. It’s about struggling to say what you mean when someone won’t hear you out – something I definitely relate to!” [via Dork]

Bells Larsen has announced their debut album, Good Grief. Set for release on September 9, news of the record is accompanied by teaser single and video, ‘Double Aquarius’. “I love this song because it was born during one of the darker periods of my life, but is sonically quite bouncy and upbeat,” Bells explains.”I was listening to a lot of Soccer Mommy, Courtney Barnett, and Frankie Cosmos at the time, so I had developed an affinity for tongue-in-cheek lyrics melded with memorable hooks. This song is about blaming your blues on astrology.” Of the video, they add: “Contrary to what ‘Double Aquarius’ might imply, I’m not that big into astrology. I do know, however, that Aquarians tend to be spacey. I thought it might be fun to run with the astrology theme and have the video take place in space. Director Jack Harrison’s retro visual aesthetic lent itself really well to the video and we had a ton of fun playing around with the special effects (like me floating!). When I’m feeling off, I tend to ask myself if there’s something going on with me or if there’s just something in the stars. This video splits the difference and shows that it can be a bit of both.” [via Dork]

Nina Nesbitt will release new album Älskar on September 2. The title means ‘to love’ in Swedish, a nod to her heritage and a country that played a key role in the making of the record. Sessions for Älskar date back to 2019, but when the pandemic intervened Nina Nesbitt began completing sessions over Zoom, using the spare bedroom in her mother’s house. She comments: “Making this album was a completely different experience to anything I’ve made before, although a lot of the music was created remotely, I feel that I’ve processed so much and learnt a lot about the relationships in my life during the last few years. I wanted to capture all types of love in their raw forms, whether it be romantic, heartbreak, friendship, coming of age, familial or self love.” New single ‘Pressure Makes Diamonds’ is out now, a polished return with a lyric that discusses the way society treats women as they mature. Crafted alongside producers Jack & Coke, Swedish artist SHY Martin was also on hand during the sessions. Nina adds: “I wrote ‘Pressure Makes Diamonds’ about trying to navigate my way through the societal pressures I started to feel as a woman in my mid-twenties.” Director Wolf James worked on the video, a playfully stylish return from Nina. [via Clash]

Danish-Faroese Brimheim released the critically acclaimed album can’t hate myself into a different shape in January this year, and now she’s finished the music video for the title track. It’s a visual gem, made with the Danish director Tone Ottilie behind the camera, about bodies, shame, acceptance and the music video showcases different queer couples in their homes and intimate spaces. “We asked the actors to show us something meaningful for them. Friends, creativity, partners or spouses and we tried to show a pallet of heartwarming ways that queer people express their passions and show their intimate spaces. I think I kinda ended up making the video I needed to see myself. The overall message is that self love and love for others can be a way out of self loathing”, Tone Ottilie says.

A remarkably precocious multi-hyphenate, this songwriter, producer, and vocalist is busy doing it her own way, melding towards R&B with shards of ultra-colourful pop music. Recent single ‘Will We Ever Get This Right’ was a radiant offering, but we reckon floweroflove could have surpassed herself with the follow-up. Out now, ‘Hannah Montana’ has a cute sense of innocence, but it contrasts this with the world-weariness of an artist in bloom. Aiming for something “nostalgic, versatile, mellow, warm, and the feeling of home” she twists between her dual roles: the academic young student, and the hotly-tipped artist. As she puts it: “‘Hannah Montana’ is a reflection of how I’m a regular student on the weekdays but on the weekends I’m Flowerovlove.” [via Clash]

We are here to provide you with some much-needed escapism in the form of Hēir’s ‘Vertigo’. An ethereal tune that promises to enchant thanks to its all-consuming atmospheric production and the Russian singer’s other-worldly tone, we can guarantee that the woes of the real world will feel like a very distant memory upon first listen. “‘The difficulty in maintaining balance and the fear of letting go. The song symbolises the transformation we experience as soon as we leave a relationship behind, when we feel lost yet attracted to a new beginning and the unknown,” explains the artist when discussing her newest release and the meaning behind the tune. “The sample within the song is meant to simulate a video game, where you fall and get back up until you pass onto the next level. ‘Vertigo’ is the jump to the new level.” And, the accompanying music video is as out-of-this-world as the track itself. With the artist taking to a set of escalators underneath a celestial sky, the project promises to transport viewers away from their desks and into the depths of Hēir’s sweet-sounding and slightly trippy world. [via Wonderland]

Fearsome shredder, songwriter, producer and unconventional rock luminary KAYE is officially back with the single and video ‘Neon God.’ This week’s release, the title track off of her upcoming EP set to be released on August 5, ushers in the funky, flamboyant response to 2020’s acclaimed Conscious Control. “This song has so many layers of meaning for me. I was raised in a conservative Christian household, and to my Chinese immigrant parents, becoming a rock star was the most Satanic thing I could possibly do. I had a promise ring! I went to church camp,” laughs KAYE about ‘Neon God’. “One day, I snuck out of the house and experienced my first punk show, and that was when I was TRULY evangelized. I found belonging with all these other misfits, and THAT became my church. Since then, I’ve been fascinated by this idea of how not just rock stars, but politicians, celebrities, actors, tech leaders, news anchors—all have their own cults of personality. It made me think about what I worship now, as opposed to back then—has one idol just been swapped for another?” The official video for ‘Neon God’ was directed by KAYE’s sister, acclaimed filmmaker Liann Kaye (‘The Blessing’). This choreographed storyline flashes between the dark and the light as KAYE contemplates what in life is worth worshiping. In full rock-and-roll Devil style, she shreds on her guitar while adorning black angel wings. If one thing is clear from the video, this is KAYE’s pulpit and we all better tune into what she has to say.

Brooklyn-based alt-pop singer-songwriter, Sabrina Song, shares her first single, the contemplative track, ‘Doors’ and its accompanying video, from her forthcoming EP due out this winter. ‘Doors,’ sees Song gently explore toxicity, reckoning with ways to address a relationship that has remained unsustainable. A quiet edge exists throughout the track, where listeners may find themselves waiting for the beat to pick up, or explode, but it never does, brilliantly capturing the feelings evoked by the lyricism and song itself. Song explains,”‘Doors’ is about a toxic relationship where no matter what you do or say, they are never satisfied. I reference specific moments throughout my life where it feels as though I was letting someone down or being let down myself, yet was still made to feel as though it was my fault. The chorus shows that feeling you have when you just need to get out of a situation and be alone to process: “I don’t care how it sounds, I just want to go home.” The music video, directed by Zac Dov Wiesel, sees Song reliving high school moments, from getting ready for prom, to high school football games, a birthday party and more. One of the high school football players can be seen throughout the video, with whom things continually seem tense. Explaining the idea behind the video, Wiesel adds, “We wanted to capture this time in adolescence that is filled with such an odd mix of feelings. To portray something that is so serious yet so silly. Capture something that feels so real and is also filled with artifice. We imagined a lot of these scenes like moments frozen in time, like photographs. What does it look like to be winning but also be so hurt?” Tying the song into the video, Wiesel continues, “The song is about how the little actions a toxic person does can feel so big. We wanted to portray something that could be perceived as silly with real weight. We always wanted to create a mixture of tones, and I feel like that makes people uncomfortable, and I love that.” Speaking to the video’s juxtaposition of winning while also losing, Song explains, “We wanted to show these hyperbolized scenes of winning and success, and contrast them with the presence of this one intrusive figure. That feeling of everything going great, and having this one person who’s capable of spoiling every moment.” With the visual paired with the track, Song captures the intricacies of walking away from something that can feel good, but ultimately causes pain as she finds the strength to choose herself.

Dropping her new single ‘BONNIE (B-SIDE)’, KENZIE TTH pushes the boundaries on experimentation and effortlessly blurs the lines between alt-R&B and contemporary pop. Showcasing her smooth unmistakable vocals and slick songwriting prowess, the singer-songwriter layers this over an eccentric ear-worming production that instantly brings the vibe. Accompanying the release with an equally as creative video, the artist takes full control and provides an abstract visual that brings her non-conformist attitude to life. Speaking on the release, the artist said, “To me, Bonnie as a character is the girl that gets labelled ‘quirky’ or the ‘eccentric manic pixie dream girl; and feels like she plays a supporting character in her own life. I think we all have some Bonnie in us — the presentation and performance of self that then gets commodified and flattened into a two-dimensional object by others.” [via Wonderland]

With a decade of acting behind her, YDE aims to conquer the music world as duelling identities dominate her new single ‘Old Her’. ‘Old Her’ adds to her already sizeable fan base built from years of acting in Nickelodeon and Netflix tweener shows like The Haunted Hathaways, School of Rock, and Malibu Rescue. But like fellow thespian Jared Leto, YDE doesn’t consider music to be a sideline. She plays every instrument needed for a rock band – guitar, bass, keys and drums – and her piano skills are a prominent part of ‘Old Her.’ In the new video, the new and old YDE personas dance and grapple with each other while the lyrics summarise the ongoing struggle: “She miss the old her, even though the new her is better than the old her“. “The song is my perspective on growing up and feeling like life never gets easier,” YDE shares. “Each verse is a real-time reflection from different chapters of life that all point back to the sarcastic conclusion that ignorance is bliss.” [via Line Of Best Fit]

Chloe Moriondo returns with new single ‘Hell Hounds’. Out now, the single appears on the deluxe edition of her new album, with Blood Bunny Deluxe boasting alternate and acoustic tracks. ‘Hell Hounds’ is a single that has been brewing for some time, a perfectly-primed dose of rebel pop from the outlaw talent. “I’ve been waiting SO FUCKING LONG to release this and am so excited for everyone to hear it,” she comments. “This is the beginning of a shiny new era and i hope everyone loves it!! <3” [via Clash]

Brooklyn indie pop duo, Daisy the Great have returned just in time for summer with their new single, ‘Easy’ via S-Curve/Hollywood Records. The vulnerable breakup track comes accompanied by an official music video, co-directed by Daisy the Great and NYC-based filmmaker Edoardo Ranaboldo (AJR). “‘Easy’ is a breakup song about all of the complicated – i.e. not always easy – feelings that come along with the end of a relationship,” say Daisy the Great about the song, “The song is about learning to trust yourself, finding joy in loving yourself, feeling hope! At the same time, it’s about how sometimes even when something isn’t right, it still hurts to let it go. The music video was filmed in Brooklyn and features our whole band as well as choreography by our dear friend Matilda Sakamoto. With the video, we wanted to explore a lot of the ups and downs of a breakup. Sometimes we might feel chaotic, or really free and independent, or we might experience true grief for something lost. And in those tough moments we lean on our pals. So even though the video is a lot about the break up, it’s also about friends being there for each other.” [via Prelude Press]

Allison Ponthier wants to know: “When celebrities — especially misunderstood famous women — pass away, what happens after they die?” On Thursday, the songstress asked that question and explores utopic afterlife in the funky music video for ‘Hollywood Forever Cemetery’ off her new Shaking Hands with Elvis EP. “In this video, ‘Hollywood Forever Cemetery’ is a haven for those whose value and talents were taken for granted in life,” she tells Rolling Stone. “While I truly believe that anyone can receive the help they need to make life worth living, I always wanted to imagine the stars that were gone too soon in a place that respected them.” The video introduces viewers to “Hat Girl” after she dies and realizes she’s only remembered for being a starlet as she reads headlines dehumanizing her with headlines like “Starlet’s Latest Role: Coffin Filler” and “Hat Girl Sheds Final Tear.” She’s then accepted by the “kooky but lovable characters” at the cemetery, including a furried Elvis. [via Rolling Stone]

Two-time Grammy nominee Madison Cunningham announces new album Revealer and is set for release on September 9 via Decca Records. “’Hospital’ is written from this sort of half awake, slightly drunken, on the cusp of a nervous breakdown perspective,” Cunningham explains of her new single. “I think ultimately it speaks to the impossible condition of being sedated with information and trying to hold onto your sanity.” [via Total Entertainment]

Canadian goth pop artist POESY has released her haunting new single, ‘Multiply’. Her second taste of new music to come from her upcoming debut album, I Exist, ‘Multiply’ is about facing an all encompassing rage in the midst of pain. ‘Multiply’ follows POESY’s powerful and positive track, ‘Still Breathing’, serving as a perfect contrast to the other uplifting song. Eerie synths and sinister string arrangements really drive the track home as POESY admits, “I swear I didn’t mean it to end like this, but you know what you did.” She may not have wanted to fight fire with fire, but sometimes, as she states, “rage is a pretty thing”. [via Prelude Press]

Abby Roberts has shared the new video for ‘Video Girl’, the latest track to arrive from the singer’s anticipated debut EP Ashes. The new video sees the Leeds singer satirising unrealistic expectations placed on our lives by social media. It sees her taking a powder called Miracle-Lax in order to achieve an “insta-perfect life”, which is in keeping with the song’s powerful critique of social media’s dark side. “I wish that I looked like you. And lately I’ve been working on my smile too,” she sings on the new alt-rock driven track. Speaking to Rolling Stone UK, Roberts said of the new video: “I’m so in love with how the music video turned out. It was probably our most ambitious one so far with so much going on, there’s so many easter eggs & references, I recruited some fans from Tiktok too and you may even spot a few familiar faces! It was the most fun i’ve ever had filming a music video.” [via Rolling Stone]

Rising star, Iyla has returned with a brand-new single, ‘2LATE,’ out now via 3T Entertainment/Astra Velum/EMPIRE. ‘2LATE’ serves as the follow up to ‘Sad Bitch Bad Bitch,’ which marked the first taste of new music from the California-born artist and songwriter. ‘2LATE’ was written by Iyla and Y2 and produced by longtime collaborator Kadis. As one might expect with a new Iyla release, ‘2LATE’ arrives with an epic and otherworldly music video. The video was filmed on location in Frazier Park and Crestline in California and directed by longtime collaborator Patrick “Embryo” Tapu, with styling from Brookelyn Styles. Her exemplary, other-worldly visuals are fast becoming an Iyla trademark, each one delving deeper into her avant-garde approach to her art and fueled with important messages. “I wanted ‘2LATE’ to tell the heart-aching story of moving on from a toxic relationship, falling in love with someone new, and having your heart torn in two places at once,” Iyla reveals about the track. Speaking about the video, she adds, “The music video explores the pain of what that love triangle would look like if all three parties were forced to watch it unfold.” [via Vents Magazine]

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