And ‘City of thirst’ is highly cinematic. Synths, horns and even flashes of flute create a dramatic, constantly evolving backdrop for RIVER’s breathy, seductive vocal, with the arrangement eventually soaring towards almost heavenly heights. There’s a haunting quality running beneath its beauty too, perfectly capturing that tension between recognising the danger and surrendering to it anyway.

The accompanying video takes the cinematic ambition even further, drawing heavily from Natural Born Killers. RIVER and her male counterpart recreate Mickey and Mallory’s unofficial bridge wedding before cruising the highway in a classic open-top car, surrounded by surreal, dreamlike and hyper-stylised imagery. The references are unmistakable but perfectly suited to a song about all-consuming attraction. ‘City of thirst’ doesn’t just explore toxic love – it makes the whole terrible idea look dangerously appealing.

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“When I wrote ‘Lost in the ocean’, I tried to see myself through the eyes of those I left behind,” RIVER shares. “To me, the song is about uncompromisingly choosing your own path, driven by the fear of commitment. It’s my confession of how I used relationships as a substance to escape loneliness, or as stepping stones in my chase for self-actualization. It’s basically about destructiveness, and the hollow feeling of always wanting more.”

Produced by collaborators August Vinberg, Johannes Henriksson, and Rickard Andersson, ‘Lost in the Ocean’ is set against a backdrop of ghostly textures and cinematic minimalism. Drawing from dream-pop, avant-garde soul, and stripped alt-pop, the team has created a soundscape that is both emotionally fragile and atmospherically rich – a track that refuses to look away from the pain it reveals.

The accompanying video, directed by RIVER and shot by Peter Milanov, plunges the viewer into a hazy, submerged reality. Wearing a custom piece by Emily Gullbo, RIVER drifts through a weightless, crystalline expanse. This suggestive journey culminates in the striking image of an umbilical cord, tethering her to another version of herself.

“The video symbolizes my experience of creative devotion separating me from the real world, creating a space that is both beautiful and repulsive in its self-glorification,” RIVER explains. “I saw this more as an art installation than a traditional music video; a creature who has cannibalized intimacy to feed her own art. The umbilical cord represents being stuck in old patterns, nourished by the validation of others without giving anything back.”

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Carrying the ghostly echoes of dream-pop and avant-garde soul, ’Infected mind’ finds RIVER engaging in a dialogue between who she was and who she’s becoming. The track’s swirling guitars and shadowy synths envelop her distinctive vocal, creating an intimate world in which reflection becomes release.

“‘Infected mind’ is my attempt to recognize and engage in a dialogue with my younger, deceived self,” RIVER explains. “It’s a passage between past and present, where forgiveness and separation can finally take place, simply by bearing witness to and understanding the harm I inflicted on myself out of ignorance. It reflects not only on the trauma of the past but also on the painful process of admitting how I’ve been deceiving myself – and ultimately surrendering to that deception in order to heal.”

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Opening with ghostly synth textures and gradually unfolding into a dreamlike landscape of shimmering guitars and intricate percussion, ‘I AM CANCER’ is a bold and intimate portrait of a fractured self. RIVER’s airy, aching, and emotionally charged voice floats through the track, evoking the disorientation of living with unresolved inner wounds.

“‘I AM CANCER’ reflects an infected mind trying to love and receive love through a wall of defence protecting it from vulnerability – and therefore love itself,” RIVER explains. “It communicates frustration around the inability to cure or hide an ugly mind stuck in false self-beliefs, believing it’s unworthy of true love.”

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