The 2014-coded track vacillates wildly between empowerment and embarrassment and features a tone-setting introduction by one of flowerovlove’s friends, Madeline Argy.

flowerovlove wrote the song with Justin Tranter, Russell Chell, Skyler Stonestreet and Ryland Blackinton. Tranter, Chell and Blackinton produced.

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Of the track flowerovlove states, “’new friends’ is a conversational summery pop phenomenon about the state after a breakup where the other person asks to still be friends just to keep u around new friends takes us on a journey of empowerment of knowing you want to be in love and in a lovergirl world.’

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Co-written with Skyler Stonestreet (Justin Bieber, Dua Lipa, Sabrina Carpenter) and produced by Russell Chell (Tate McRae, Kid Cudi, Juice WRLD), ‘erase u’ is set to appear on flowerovlove’s forthcoming ache in my tooth EP out October 11. The irrepressibly catchy song arrives with a simple but evocative visualizer directed by flowerovlove. Therein, we find our lovestruck heroine caught in a tug-of-war with a boy, but just as he seems poised to win, four young women pull the rope behind her, and eventually grasp at flowerovlove herself, to try and keep her from falling.

As flowerovlove puts it, “‘erase u’ is a hyperbolic crush anthem, where a crush is so delusional you’d die for that person and give anything to just breathe near them. Like, ‘I love you, but we just met.’ ‘erase u’ is when a crush becomes an addiction.”

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Grizzly Coast (Alannah Kavanagh) has been sharpening her songwriting, growing her loyal following, and tightening her live show in Toronto’s vibrant live music scene, supporting acts like Fast Romantics and Begonia. Her music successfully blends dreamy guitar rock sensibilities with a trademark thoughtful lyricism. New single, ‘Washed,’ is a powerful rallying cry against indifference and stagnancy, urging listeners to take control of their lives and reject passivity. Born from a spontaneous and collaborative jam session between Alannah and her husband, Kyle, the track captures the essence of embracing action. The song’s message is a reminder to confront apathy and take control of your life.

Last month, Nicole Miglis of Hundred Waters announced her debut solo album, Myopia. So far the alt-pop musician has unveiled ‘All I See Is You’ and ‘Autograph,’ and now she’s back with ‘Lure.’ “The song plays on themes of allure, the shadow of desire, the push and pull, the power struggle of love, the games, the feeling of being reeled in and cast away like a fishing lure,” Miglis said in a statement. The sprawling track comes with a colorful music video by Ian Clontz; watch it below. [via Stereogum]

Fresh off her hit ‘BOYS,’ which SZA proclaimed “fire as hell,” flowerovlove returns with ‘Breaking News’ – a shimmering anthem for lovestruck summer nights. Produced by Duck Blackwell (Louis Tomlinson, Icona Pop) and co-written with her close friend Ines Dunn (Maisie Peters, Astrid S), the euphoric track emerged as the singer-songwriter turned to music to express complicated feelings she didn’t want to talk out with the person causing them. “I was feeling sad when I wrote it, actually,” explains flowerovlove. “I wanted to feel something lovey dovey, so I wanted to manifest feelings through a song.” In the official video for ‘Breaking News,’ flowerovlove finds love at the library and, after bonding over vinyl records, she and her new crush dance their way through the stacks.

Canadian singer-songwriter margø released a new song ‘pity party’ along with a music video. The song is the sixth single off of her upcoming debut album Who Are You When You’re Alone, which is expected to be released in 2024. The inspiration for the track came about after a tumultuous break up. Clapping back at an ex’s guilt trip disguised as an attempt to reconvene, she delivers intoxicating hooks and clever lyricism. The track was written by Cassidy Margolis and Matthew Boda. Produced by Boda. The accompanying video was directed by Tatiana Zagorac. margø said of the song, “’Pity Party’ is a multifaceted song inspired by experiences with toxic relationships – with other people, as well as within myself. This song is an inward look at how it feels to face the consequences of our own actions – and takes a sassy, tongue in cheek approach to the feelings of anxiety and self loathing attached to it.” [via pm studio]

Making a momentous return, GRAMMY® Award-winning history-making superstar Alessia Cara is back with a brand-new single and video for ‘Dead Man’ out now via Def Jam Recordings. It notably marks her first release since 2022 and kicks off what promises to be her biggest and boldest chapter yet. She steps into this era with clear confidence and charisma. Written by Alessia Cara and produced/written by Mike Elizondo, the upbeat track tells the tale of a once loving relationship gone cold and revolves around a jazz-y drumbeat, head-nodding bassline, and boisterous piano melody. Her signature smoky delivery practically hovers above rambunctious horns as she wonders, “If you really care, then why am I feeling you slip right through my hands? If you’re really there, why can I walk right through you? Talking to a dead man.” Speaking on the song, Alessia says, “The song is about a relationship that has come to an end and is like the last final grasp of trying to hold onto what is left of this relationship. Basically, looking at the other person and metaphorically shaking them and saying ‘I am really trying my best to hold here, but if you don’t want to be held onto then there’s nothing left of this’. I feel like I am talking to a dead man.” The video, directed by George Gallardo Kattah, unfolds as a surreal David Lynch-style fever dream. Among many entrancing vignettes, Alessia undergoes a polygraph test administered by a ghostly headless suit. The clip intercuts this trippy exchange with tense close-ups, a silhouetted trumpet solo, and transfixing choreography. It amplifies her outlier spirit loud and clear.

Indie rock juggernauts Eliza And The Delusionals invite you to immerse yourself in the lush tapestry and soundscape of their sophomore album Make It Feel Like The Garden out now via Cooking Vinyl Australia. Crafting a visually and sonically utopian landscape, the album acts as a refuge from the real world, transporting the listener to their own happy place or “garden”. Showcasing their trademark blend of catchy hooks, driving rhythms, and contemplative lyricism, the record is a kaleidoscope of emotions and melodies. The trio have also shared the visuals for their latest single ‘Lately;, featuring Silversun Pickups’ lead vocalist and guitarist Brian Aubert and co-production from Butch Vig (Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Garbage). The accompanying video, which was created by videographer and 3D designer Tom Carroll (@egumei), showcases the darker side of The Garden outside of the dreamy landscape in the artwork. “Seeing this idea come to life has been absolutely amazing and a dream come true for us. The fact that we were able to have a music video of us existing in The Garden from our album artwork, and on top of that have Brian deliver us an iconic performance all the way from LA whilst we filmed our parts in Brisbane. We couldn’t be happier with how it turned out, and Tom Caroll aka egumei has actually worked true magic to bring it to life.” The visual element played a pivotal part in the creation of this album, with guitarist Kurt coming up with the idea of creating a world around the garden where the band could co-exist – a lush, floral and beautiful world that you ‘escape to’ when listening to the record. [via Good Call Live]

Jade Thirlwall – member of former pop monolith Little Mix – has released her debut single, ‘Angel of My Dreams’, and its accompanying music video. The music video for the debut solo single, sees Jade as various pop stars, all running on the hamster wheel of the industry, under the watchful eye of a greedy manager. The video starts with Jade busking – interspersed with shots from real-life Jade’s X Factor audition – as another version of the star in a giant blonde pop star wig, on the short leash of a greedy music manager in a vile tracksuit, is paraded around for paparazzi. As busker Jade begins to sing, the greedy boss’s attention slips from pop star Jade, as he focuses in on his new target – the new angel of his dreams. Oh, it’s all very clever. There’s a lyrical nod to Jade’s past in the song’s first verse that goes: “Sold my soul to a psycho”. ‘Psycho’ happens to sound a lot like ‘SyCo’ – the former label of Little Mix, run by X Factor judge Simon Cowell. A coincidence, we’re sure. Anyway, busker Jade is now the new pop icon, and with a contract signed in blood under her belt, things go well for a while. But then, the greedy boss is seen having an affair with a yet another new Jade, with our original fighting for his attention just as her predecessor did. The video ends with OG Jade back where she started, peering through crowds of fans for the new angel of everyone’s dreams. There’s dance breaks, there’s costume changes, there’s vocals and there’s a ‘Puppet on a String’ sample from Sandie Shaw’s 1967 hit. Speaking about the single, Jade said that ‘Angel of My Dreams’ is intended to be a “pop punch to the face”. “I want people to be like ‘oh my god, I didn’t expect that’ – but then want to listen to it again,” she explained. “I didn’t want to do a safe first single, that was really important to me.” “I’m setting the tone of who I am as an artist on my own. I want people to hear it and be like ‘what the f**k is that song?’. My worst nightmare is for someone to hear my song and go ‘that’s nice’,” the South Shields-born icon and fierce LGBTQ+ ally stated. [via Pink News]

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In the accompanying video, flowerovlove takes the concept of being boy crazy to a new level, playing a character whose obsession has led to her being institutionalized. As the line between fantasy and reality blurs, will she meet the boy of her dreams in this unlikely setting? View the official video, which was directed by Michelle Helena Janssen (Arctic Lake, KWAYE) and produced by Tau Joshua Sawyerr, below.

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flowerovlove says of the single: “Everlasting crushes can be so splendid and passionate. You can become devoted almost like a golden retriever is, but it also clashes with feels of drowning in oceans of uncertainty that the person you adore may not feel the same way, so you obsess with questions like “would a boy like you like a girl like me?” or “could someone like you like someone like me?” As with every flowerovlove track, the lyrics and music paint a bright, vivid picture.

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With her luminous vocals and introspective lyrics, she captures the adrenaline rush of exiting a toxic situation. She wrote ‘Next Best Exit’ with Gaetan Judd, who co-wrote ‘Who Told You’ by J Hus featuring Drake, which peaked at No. 2 on the UK Singles Chart, and also co-wrote several tracks on Burna Boy’s GRAMMY®-nominated album Love, Damini, and Wilfred Cisse, her brother and frequent collaborator. Judd produced.

“Next Best Exit’ is a song based on the themes of toxic people, negative energy surrounding you, and you being in desperate need to find an exit out of the nearest door, fire escape, air vent, etc.!!” explains flowerovlove. “Doing anything to escape and just be around the energy you deserve.”

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Her winsome personality shines in the vibrant official video for ‘Coffee Shop,’ which finds her playing the captain of a cheer squad and a host of other characters.

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It’s been a fascinating run for Alaska Reid and now comes news that she co-produced her debut album with A.G. Cook, the PC Music ringleader and hyperpop pioneer. That album, Disenchanter, is coming in July via Gorilla vs. Bear’s Luminelle label, a subsidiary of Fat Possum. It’s said to draw from country, grunge, and easygoing California rock as filtered through Cook’s signature electronic eccentricity. Lead single ‘Back To This,’ which arrives with a video by Santiago Cendejas, is a misty, prismatic pop-rock song that contains glimmers of all that but mostly goes down smooth. “Running through these dreams,” Reid sings on the chorus. “I wanna go back to this.” According to Reid, it’s inspired by a time when she encountered a group of service workers on a break while hiking in the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness: “It was late summer and they looked happy and dusty. It was like a painted reverie from a classical painting. I fantasize about other people’s lives, other people’s professions, and writing is a way I can approximate what it must be like to be someone else. So this song is about stumbling upon a scene in someone else’s life and wanting to be a part of it, but it’s also about wondering if I ever seemed as cool or as worthy as those smokejumpers did. I also had this idea of looking back at a photo and wondering why, at the time, I did not feel like the version of myself looking back in the photo.” [via Stereogum]

HotWax have dropped their new single ‘Treasure’. Their first since signing to Marathon Artists, the track arrives ahead of the band’s upcoming UK mini tour, which kicks off on March 11 at Folkestone’s Quarterhouse. The Hastings trio are also soon to join Pearl Hearts on tour, and have a string of summer festivals coming up, including Mad Cool and All Points East. [via Dork]

PVRIS has released a video for ‘Goddess’. The track was released earlier this year to coincide with a bunch of UK and European dates, with Lynn Gunn commenting: “It’s a celebration of femininity, all shapes and forms, and a cathartic, guttural scream at the same time.” [via Dork]

‘May’ is JGrrey‘s first release as the lead artist since ‘Theirs13’ arrived in January, although she did contribute to Baxter Dury’s ‘Aylesbury Boy’ single recently. JGrrey says of the single, which is teamed with a Pip + Lib-directed video, “I’ve known Kojey for about 10 years and the timing aligned for us to work together. I knew that whatever I sent to Kojey, he would listen. I hadn’t created something that I felt made sense to send him, until writing ‘May’.” She adds, “Forgetting the sound of someone’s laugh isn’t something I thought I’d lose so much sleep over…James died and had his funeral on my birthday (classic James) – he left suddenly, dramatically magically..like? I still don’t really believe he’s gone.. like he’s giggling somewhere, laughing at us all for missing him so much. This video and this song are for him.” [via Line Of Best Fit]

Art-pop greats Christine And The Queens took a detour out of their main discography with last year’s Redcar les adorables étoiles, released under the name Redcar or Christine And The Queens Presents Redcar. This summer Chris will return to the Christine And The Queens moniker with an ambitious new album called PARANOÏA, ANGELS, TRUE LOVE. The 20-track collection was co-produced by hip-hop legend Mike Dean, who is linked with Lana Del Rey and Beyoncé in the album’s press materials but not longtime collaborator Kanye West for obvious reasons. It contains three Madonna collabs and two by 070 Shake. Chris shared this statement: “This new record is the second part of an operatic gesture that also encompassed 2022’s Redcar les adorables étoiles. Taking inspiration from the glorious dramaturgy of Tony Kushner’s iconic play, Angels in America, Redcar felt colourful and absurd like Prior sent to his insane dream-space. The follow-up PARANOÏA, ANGELS, TRUE LOVE is a key towards heart-opening transformation, a prayer towards the self – the one that breathes through all the loves it is made of. Prior’s real agony in Angels in America is a deep, painful becoming, a shedding of all waters and memories, that then allows angels to immerse deep too, and offer back profound, narrative-altering love – a rest in true love.” Lead single ‘To be honest’ is an immaculate synth-pop power ballad, like an old Celine Dion smash hit reimagined for the Drive soundtrack. It rules. Watch the Chris-directed video below. [via Stereogum]

Mae Muller is going to represent the UK at Eurovision this year. Set to be held in Liverpool on behalf of Ukraine, she’s taking her new single ‘I Wrote A Song’, co-written with Karen Poole (Kylie Minogue, David Guetta, Galantis) and Lewis Thompson (Anne-Marie, Little Mix, Steve Aoki). Mae says: “’I Wrote A Song’ is a track I wrote after the fallout from a relationship. I was hurt and also a little angry, so I thought, where can I put this negative energy and make something positive out of it? The song is less about revenge and more about empowering yourself. While I was recording the song, I envisioned me and my girls dancing to it on a Saturday night, and that’s exactly what I want people to do! To dance, sing, let go, and feel empowered after listening.” [via Dork]

flowerovlove returns with a new music video for her recent single ‘Love You’ that sees her shining brighter than ever. In the track, which was dropped to coincide with Valentine’s Day, flowerovlove explores a more universal type of love rather than focusing on simple romance — a refreshing change of pace, celebrating a sense of overall camaraderie and earnest affection amid a lush guitar-driven soundscape. Keeping in line with the theme of self-love, the visual sees the artist fully feeling herself, starring front and center, singing joyfully to various versions of herself. The visual also folds in the artist’s love of nature, as her name would suggest, expanding the idea of love to encompass taking care of the planet with a simple scrawled-out “Smoking Kills” in chalk. “’Love You’ is an incredibly magical song I wrote with my brother,” flowerovlove says of the track. “The song is about universal love, all-inclusive love. This is a love song that can be sung about anyone — your mum, your dog, your best friend or even your grandmother. I want everyone to feel nostalgia from ‘Love You’ and to be able to connect it to a loved one.” [via Paper]

Fever Ray’s new album Radical Romantics is out now, and along with the record, The Knife singer has shared the music video for single ‘Even It Out,’ featuring Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. Reznor and Ross both co-produced and performed on ‘Even It Out,’ an anti-bullying track aimed at the former nemesis of Karin Dreijer’s son. “This is for Zacharias/ Who bullied my kid in high school/ There’s no room for you/ And we know where you live,” the artist trills, over ominous synths and machine-like percussion. Meanwhile, the track’s music video takes a campier approach, as Dreijer dons a thick slab of drag makeup in a nod to John Waters’ Female Trouble. Reznor and Ross also make cameos in the video. [via Consquence]

VOLK is Nashville indie-rock duo Eleot Reich (drums, vocals) and Christopher Lowe (guitar, vocals). Their new EP, Stand the Test (out Apr. 28), delves into bluesy retro-futuristic dance punk, synthwave, new wave, and nostalgia-filled roller rink bangers. Their masterfully designed video for ‘I Fed Animals’ is a cyberpunk spectacle of stylized street fights and music performance, shot partially on location in Tokyo. The visceral and animalistic core of this song beckons you to tear the clothes off of your lover. “I wrote this after going through one of my first breakups,” says Reich. “I was angry and just wanted revenge. I was out there doing my thing, and I wanted it to get back to him. I thought of the line “I Fed Animals” and loved the metaphor of it all. I love the history of blues and using these types of sexual metaphors.” The Blade Runner meets Ghost in the Shell meets Tekken music video for ‘I Fed Animals’ is a retro-future, VFX-heavy labor of love that took months of production. Director Patrick Pierson even flew to Tokyo to shoot the streets and neon of Shinjuku to capture the authentic feeling of his cyberpunk vision. The video is a feast for the eyes as the band performs against neon geometry and banks of neo-futuristic screens while a cyber girl and street demon face off in beautifully choreographed fights through rain and city streets. Each meticulously crafted frame is a work of art in its own right. The cinematic majesty of the video pulls no punches and lands in the echelon of masterpieces like director Seth Ickerman’s video for ‘Turbo Killer’ by Carpenter Brut. “I saw VOLK live at a mid-sized club,” says Pierson, “but they’re sound is so big, like AC/DC or Queen. I knew I wanted to work with them, and I knew I wanted to work within a cyberpunk aesthetic. I took a page from anime, grindhouse, 70s sci-fi b-movies and old kung fu films. We shot VOLK in a studio, and I flew to Japan to shoot the background plates to honor the anime roots of the idea. For the fight scene, we brought on O’Calla Joslyn to do the choreography and professional dancers Doug Hooker & Gretchen Marie Olson. I wanted the fight to mimic a murmuration of birds, the way they dance and fly together in a rhythmic pattern.”

On Friday, Meghan Trainor released the music video for her new single ‘Mother,’ and the visual features none other than Kris Jenner as the video’s main star. Dressed in a white dress and a pixie cut, Jenner takes Trainor’s place as the Charm La’Donna-directed video’s lead pop star as she lip-syncs the track’s lyrics. “I am your mother, you listen to me. Stop all that mansplainin’, no one’s listening,” Trainor sings in the chorus. “Tell me who gave you permission to speak? I am your mother, you listen to me.” The doo-wop-infused track samples The Chordettes’s ‘Mr. Sandman’ in the post-chorus as Trainor repeats, “You just a bum bum bum.” Some scenes capture Jenner and Trainor dancing alongside each other before Trainor shows off her ultrasound photos as she sings the lyric, “You with your God complex/But you can’t even make life, bitch.” [via Rolling Stone]

Garage rocker Olivia Jean has shared the psychedelic official music video for ‘Trouble.’ The track comes from her just-announced third solo album, Raving Ghost, arriving via Third Man Records on Friday, May 5.

Chappell Roan is a Missouri-born 24-year-old singer-songwriter who began uploading songs online as a teenager, was discovered and released an album on Atlantic when she was just 18. Now an independent artist, she’s been releasing a string of strong singles in collaboration with Olivia Rodrigo’s chief collaborator, Daniel Nigro, and the latest one is the most irresistible to date: ‘Casual,’ a graphic paen to, as the press release calls it, “modern dating and young lust” that pairs explicit lyrics with a stately, Lana Del Rey-esque delivery towering chorus that dares radio not to play it. “I’ve heard so many rumors/ That I’m just a girl that you bang on your couch/ I thought you thought of me better… “Knee deep in the passenger seat and you’re eating me out/ Is it casual now?,” the chorus goes. “Baby, get me off again/ If it’s casual, it’s casual now.” [via Variety]

Ashnikko has released a new video for ‘Worms’. It’s a cut from upcoming debut album WEEDKILLER, which follows 2021 mixtape Demidevil and will be released on June 2 via Parlophone Records. Speaking about the video, director Raman Djafari says: “I wanted to create a vast world that stretches way beyond the bounds of this one music video, like there’s an abundance of stories waiting to be told. I indulged my love for creature design and developed dozens of individual characters, monsters, robots and a huge monster truck. It was important to me to bring the world around this album to life, with a richness that reflects the depth of the music and lyrics. Working with Ash and Vasso was a truly precious collaboration between artists, they supported and trusted my personal interpretation of the universe they created together. Looking back, I wish I could have spent more time in this world. I feel like this video barely scratches the surface of what I would love to create together with Ashnikko. Fingers crossed we’ll get another chance to collaborate in the future.” [via Dork]

Sir Chloe—the project of vocalist, songwriter and guitarist Dana Foote—unveils the video for, ‘Hooves,’ directed by Molly Hawkins and Grant Spanier. The song is the lead single from Sir Chloe’s debut album, I Am the Dog, slated for release May 19 via Atlantic Records.

Following on from her 2022 collab with Bring Me The Horizon frontman Oli Sykes, Alice Longyu Gao has just unveiled the full EP from which it’s taken. Alice’s second EP – entitled Let’s Hope Heteros Fail, Learn And Retire – arrived along with a new video for the song ‘Come 2 Brazil’. And, as we’ve come to expect from the one-of-a-kind artist, it’s an incredibly fun and entertaining watch. The musician says of her EP that, “You’re listening to the future of music,” with Let’s Hope Heteros Fail, Learn And Retire. [via Kerrang!]

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BIBI has unveiled the music video for ‘Animal Farm’, from her upcoming studio debut Noir: Lowlife Princess. The release also marks the musician’s 24th birthday. In the blood-soaked new visual, BIBI shows up at a lavish party attended by masked elites. Brandishing a katana, she begins to behead each partygoer, revealed to all have pig snouts in the place of noses, one by one. “Sing the song of lies to death / Dance like the devil / Under the big guillotine at the centre of the grand feast / Whose neck is that?,” she sings in the chorus. ‘Animal Farm”s music video also introduces a figure named Oh Geum-ji, inspired by the character Lee Geum-ja from famed film director Park Chan-wook’s 2005 revenge-thriller Lady Vengeance, who the narrative of BIBI’s album will be based upon. [via NME]

Weyes Blood has shared the music video for ‘It’s Not Just Me, It’s Everybody,’ the first single from her anticipated new album And In The Darkness, Hearts Aglow. Directed by Charlotte Ercoli, the video casts Natalie Mering in a post-apocalyptic musical where, Omega Man-style, she is the last person alive on earth, though she does dance amid the debris and the dead with an animated smartphone. Natalie herself calls this video “demented” and you can watch it above. [via Brooklyn Vegan]

Baby Queen has shared her much teased new single ‘Lazy’. Following on from her stint supporting Olivia Rodrigo on the European leg of her ‘SOUR’ world tour, and coming ahead of another support slot with fellow icon Conan Gray on his US dates throughout October, you can check out the track above. A press release claims Baby Queen – aka Bella Latham – “was asked to elaborate on the track but, in line with the sentiment expressed, she’s too f*g lazy.” [via Dork]

Explosive and energetic femme nu punk/grunge-rockers DOWNGIRL have doused stages around their hometown in Gadigal land in their highly flammable sonic kerosene and are kicking things up a notch with the release of their track, ‘Manic’. Bursting onto the scene with the dynamite ‘Beauty Queen’, this epic second track, ‘Manic’, off the group’s upcoming EP is 4 and a half minutes of powerful punk goodness. The gradual build of gritty riffs and fury-driven drums match the energy of the lyrical confessions that escalate with a fight or flight intensity. By the time it gets there, it fervently begs for relief with a euphoric, wall-to-wall noise-filled chorus and its refrain, ‘Manic’. The song hits like shots of cinnamon whisky – hard, fast and to dizzying effect, with a sweet but spicy aftertaste. Each member gives it their all, and collectively let go like an unrelenting force of nature. The enthralling track begs your worst enemy, ‘Do I have to keep reminding you I’m not too much for you?’. DOWNGIRL on the track’s origin: “‘Manic’ was written during Sydney’s last pandemic lockdown as a back and forth via the WWW. It explores mental health issues and the responsibility we must take for them during a time which is insular and introspective.” Filmed and directed by Stackhat, the music video for ‘Manic’ reflects a distorted reality with scenes of the band members at home, but flipped upside down. Things progressively get weirder. One band member draws a widening circle of smudged pink lipstick in repeated motions while forcing an unconvincing smile. Another beats drumsticks against a box of Froot Loops, while a third screams into the bathroom toilet. It’s disorienting and uncomfortable to watch, much like experiencing the timewarp of lockdown and getting caught in the mental battlefield of too much time spent alone. The mania-fuelled chorus is emphasised with DOWNGIRL piling into the car for a head-banging / scream-along drive down a tree-lined road.

‘Repeat After Me,’ the new single from Cornish singer-songwriter Nell Davies, is a witty indie pop song about being replaced in someone’s affections. Like all Nell’s songs, it’s a completely DIY production, recorded in a converted pigsty in the garden of her house near Penzance. The video, which features Nell’s evil twin, and was inspired by equal parts The Parent Trap, Twin Peaks and Fight Club, was filmed guerrilla-style at a remote Victorian folly in the early hours of the morning, before the tourists turned up. Nell says, “’Repeat After Me’ is about people going through life stubbornly refusing to learn from their mistakes, so making the same ones over and over again. It’s a trait I find extremely irritating, especially in myself.”

flowerovlove has shared a video for her most recent track, ‘I Gotta I Gotta’. Following up on recent singles ‘Get With You’ and ‘Hannah Montana’, she explains: “‘I Gotta I Gotta’ is fueled by searching for where you want to go in life and not knowing where that is, but needing to go now, fearing a lack of time.” [via Dork]

Now that Paramore have returned, it makes cosmic sense that Florida pop-punk trio Meet Me @ The Altar should release a new song too. In the midst of their tour supporting MUNA, Meet Me @ The Altar are back with a brand-new song, ‘Say It (To My Face),’ and it’s a banger. Built on a foundation of soaring, shout-along choruses and chunky guitar, ‘Say It (To My Face)’ is about shutting down anonymous social-media haters and is set to appear on the band’s forthcoming debut album, coming early next year. [via Stereogum]

Sam Smith unveils the official video for their new single, ‘Unholy’ ft. Kim Petras. Directed by the inimitable Floria Sigismondi (The Runaways film, David Bowie, Christina Aguilera) and choreographed by French dance collective (LA)HORDE, the provocative film is set in ‘The Body Shop’, a debauched show-world of wonder and danger. Leading a diverse and Queer cast, Sam Smith stars as the singing MC and Kim Petras as a dancer in a lustful extravaganza of costume, dance, and sexual power. Marrying the spectacle of Bob Fosse rubbing up against the unrestrained nihilism of A Clockwork Orange with a touch of vaudeville thrown in, ‘Unholy’ is a visual feast. Cameos include Gottmik and Violet Chachki (RuPaul’s Drag Race) and adult film star Paddy O’Brian.

Royal & the Serpent has returned with the music video for ‘Death of Me,’ the second chapter of a five-part series. The latest installment from the Los Angeles artist (born Ryan Santiago) is a somber electropop train of thought, and the accompanying visual sees the singer-songwriter thrown into her own version of A Clockwork Orange. Santiago has been releasing a track and video each week as a part of a project dubbed happiness is an inside job, an effort that will allow listeners to join her in pursuit of happiness. ‘Death of Me’ marks the followup to last week’s chapter, ‘IM FINE.’ “It’s kind of like a journey through my thoughts on figuring out how the fuck to be happy (which you would think would be simpler, but they really don’t spell just it out for you!),” Santiago tells Consequence. “This week’s chapter is a song particularly referencing the notion that we’re all losing touch with ourselves and with one another — even though seemingly we’re more connected than ever,” she adds. Indeed, ‘Death of Me’ epitomizes the idea of harsh reality. In a world consumed by technology, Santiago realizes that screens and machines do the inverse of what they were intended for — keeping people connected. The despair of the track is matched by its video, thanks in part to its Kubrick-esque brainwashing sequence and cuts to an empty room colored by dark organs spewing out of Santiago.“The internet killed conversation, personality, and friends/ We’re all depressed and self-obsessed,” she sings over a soft, dragged guitar before shifting to an intense sound with drums to match. For Santiago, this track is sonically “a ride” — one that she is especially satisfied with. “I honestly very rarely am excited to listen to the music I make, but there really is something so special about this one,” Santiago notes. “It somehow still gives me chills and that really never happens if I’m listening to my own stuff. I feel like it’s a little piece of my heart and brain in song form.” [via Consequence]

Upcoming Welsh artist Thallo shares new Welsh language single ‘Pluo’ (transl. Feathering) and announces details of her forthcoming bilingual Crescent EP, inspired by a unique subject matter and one deeply personal to Thallo – immobility. On new single ‘Pluo,’ Thallo showcases her unique sound, one that is enveloping, otherworldly, and multi-instrumented, spanning bedroom and dream-pop with subtle, textured jazz infusions and contemporary classic touches, both ethereal and utterly enthralling. Pluo translates as ‘feathering’ in English, meaning ‘lightly snowing’ which relates to the song’s poignant opening line “I gather dust which is feathering stillness.” Inspired by the effects of a sudden condition that Thallo suffered in 2020 which caused chronic knee pain and debilitating mobility issues, Pluo touches on the peculiar pain of watching the world return to normal following lockdown, whilst Thallo was trapped in what she describes as “My own personal lockdown.” As she expands “I felt so stuck, unable to return to my normal life. But most of all, the song is a cry of fear for the loneliness and hopelessness of being left behind whilst everyone else moves forward.” ‘Pluo’s accompanying video, a collaboration with Welsh channel Lŵp (S4C) produced and co-directed by Aled Wyn Jones and Andy Pritchard, takes inspiration from psychological horror and is filmed at the popular ghost-hunting spot Bron y Garth Hospital – a former 1800s workhouse/hospital now abandoned and frozen in-time. As Thallo explains “The setting perfectly mirrors Pluo’s lyrics of feeling stuck and deteriorating.” It sees Thallo wake to find herself in a blood-filled bath on the decaying hospital floor, what ensues is a struggle to escape the derelict building peppered with eerie imagery and horrifying flashbacks that lead to the chilling conclusion – that Thallo is in fact dead and trapped in purgatory.

Atlanta-based art-rock band Mamalarky release their second full-length album, Pocket Fantasy, on Fire Talk Records. Along with the album release, the band have shared a new video for album track ‘Frog 2’, along with a video directed by Spencer Ford. “I don’t know if I’ve better synthesized the way I feel with words than in this song,” says singer/guitarist Livvy Bennett. “I think I successfully collaged what I feel every day. I was going through a majorly introverted time in my life, but I was feeling hopeful and grounded in that. I was feeling less and less alone in my own little musical world. Michael was bullied into writing this song honestly. We were sitting at this dinky Casio and I said WRITE SOMETHING, and he did somewhat begrudgingly. I wrote the words and harmonies over it on on a series of desert drives between Austin and LA, trying to make something materialize.”

girli is back, but not as you once knew her – she releases her very relatable single, ‘I Really Fked It Up’ via AllPoints/Believe. It is led by a thumping melody and culminates in an urgent chorus, showcasing girli’s soaring vocals. The artist has entered her most unapologetically pop era yet, and ‘I Really Fked It Up’ is just the beginning of the next long-awaited chapter. girli’s new era-defining glam and wardrobe complement a stunning creative directed by the inspirational Fiona Garden (Wet Leg, Years & Years, Grimes and more). Milly Toomey (AKA girli) has been on an explorative journey of self-discovery, only to conclude that she can’t be boxed in. The singer-songwriter had been questioning who she was and had put so much pressure on knowing the answer, but soon realised it’s okay to not always know. To mark this epiphany, girli wrote the music she has always wanted to release, and one of the outcomes is ‘I Really F**ked It Up’. girli explains, “I wrote this song about doing destructive things to feel excitement, and absolutely hating myself for it. Writing this song made the whole project fall into place; why am I like this? Who is controlling my puppet strings when I do things I don’t want to do?”

Alternative artist Molly Moore has released ‘Hate Myself,’ the latest single from her forthcoming album, Miserably Sublime, expected early 2023. The single, co-written with Nevin Sastry (Phem, PRETTYMUCH) and Josh Murty (Maggie Lindemann), is injected with anthemic energy as Molly speaks to the mental turmoil she faced while falling victim to depression and self-sabotage. Amplified by a blend of steady drum beats and searing guitar licks, the track features a sing-along chorus full of self-deprecating dry humor about coming to terms with how you see yourself and those around you. The accompanying music video was directed by Molly and Francesca Maldonado (Justin Bieber, Dixie D’Amelio, Ashley Graham) and leans into the track’s lyrical playfulness as Molly comes face-to-face with herself. “I wrote the song during a very transitional period of my life. I’d been going to therapy and becoming aware that I tend to have a negative narrative happening with myself in my head,” shares Molly. “I was feeling pressure seeing all of my friends living more stable lives than me, getting married and having kids, while I’m in LA writing songs every day. I was also falling in love with someone that was emotionally unavailable, so I wrote this song with a bit of a sarcastic tone to try and process all of this. My goal with this song is to create a conversation that allows people to face their negative internal battles and challenge those perceived truths with another, kinder perspective that we can be nice to ourselves and still be radically honest.” [via Broadway World]

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