Frankie Rose shares ‘Sixteen Ways,’ the second single from her forthcoming new album, Love As Projection. Frankie worked with choreographer Neil Schwartz and director Scott Kiernan on the video. “I wanted to make a dance video choreographed by 80s Baby (Neil Shwartz) but with the ESPTV (Scott Kiernan) aesthetic. I trusted them completely and just let them create a world for me. The result is a video that feels like a fever dream in the black lodge complete with my very own machine elves,” says Frankie. Neil Schwartz, the choreographer adds, “I wanted to make sure that the movement matched the aesthetic and wanted to create clean lines focusing more toward the upper body. We focused on the arms to create flowing pictures that would match and compliment the synths, beats, and Vocals, and overall musicality of the track. I wanted to give individuality movement to each dancer while still including a cohesive sea of flowing colors that complimented each dancer to bring about a visual harmony of pictures and shapes”

Margo Price’s fourth album Strays is an early highlight of 2023, with the alt-country songwriter infusing elements of ’70s psychedelia across the LP. Seems like the time period was also a visual influence on Price, as the new music video for the Sharon Van Etten–featuring album cut ‘Radio’ borrows heavily from that decade’s cinematic output—even if the most explicit reference point is Risky Business. “To me, this song is about turning down the noise and opinions of my haters and people who try to tear me down. It’s about having confidence in yourself and your vision,” Price shared about the single. “It’s also a pun about being naked that I lifted from Marilyn Monroe,” she adds, commenting on the song’s repeated line “The only thing I have on is the radio.” The visual captures Price engaging in a self-care routine involving shutting the (rotary) phone off, shedding clothes, and ordering a pizza, all while joint smoke fills the air. Speaking of which, the new video arrives along with the unveiling of Margo Price x Mom Grass, a new cannabis line in collaboration with Dad Grass that includes CBG joints, handmade tie-dyed t-shirts, and embroidered hats which aim to “invoke the free-spirited, psychedelic nature of this latest LP,” per a press release. [via Flood]

On March 10 songwriter, musician, visual artist and writer Shana Cleveland (La Luz) will release her new solo album, Manzanita via Hardly Art Records. Now, she drops the album’s opener ‘A Ghost’, a gorgeous, Mellotron-backed, angelic second taster of the upcoming LP. She wrote Manzanita while pregnant and shortly after giving birth with that experience informing a lot of her songwriting. Of the single Shana says, “I never really gave pregnancy and childbirth very much thought, and when I did become pregnant I was surprised by how much of a psychedelic experience it was. A subtitle for this album could be: ‘What to Expect When You Are Open to the Mysteries of the Universe.’ When I sat outside the house looking out across the field, the chemistry and shape of my body constantly changing, I understood that I was no different than the plants and animals around me.” The video was directed by Vice Cooler and aesthetically was inspired by the show Just for Laughs: Gags, a weird, wordless prank show that Cleveland loved and first saw on hotel TVs when traveling outside the U.S. She shares, “depending on your comfort level for symbolism, it’s a story of someone coming back from the dead to haunt their bff through cheap gags OR a metaphor for pregnancy OR a cautionary tale about colonialism.”

Multi-award-winning artist and Milk! Records co-founder Jen Cloher is sharing the third single ‘My Witch’ from their forthcoming fifth album I Am The River, The River Is Me which will be released on March 3 via Milk! Records / Marathon Artists. On the new single, Cloher said “I went to a party in 2022 where a friend had hired a portable cedar spa. They had set it up in the backyard and after a big feast people started to pile in. As the night progressed things became more and more debauched, bodies tangled together, laughter and booze, like a Bacchanalian scene in a forest… cut to 6 months later when I’m trying to think of a way to tell a funny (but sexy) story to accompany ‘My Witch’. I had been attending Pony Club Gym in Preston for a couple of years and I thought it would make the perfect setting for a pair of babes to be flirting during a steamy workout. Then to casting.. if there’s anyone who reps body positivity and owning their deep hotness it has to be Georgia Maq from Camp Cope. I had my Witch slash Personal Trainer cast! The gym scene needed to be about holding back though because the suggestion of something happening is sexier. Then it came to me! The explosion the song needed during the mega raunch guitar solo could take place in a spa cauldron. Georgia would lure me to her coven where things would turn wild. . Now to casting a coven of hot witches.. Seeing as me and Georgia are songwriters and performers it made sense that her coven would be overflowing with iconic Naarm based songwriting witches – Mo’Ju, Alice Skye, Kira Puru and Lay the Mystic all said yes to my invitation to spend an evening in a spa eating a lot of watermelon. The rest is history.”

North London indie-pop singer-songwriter Natalie Shay recently returned with a new single entitled ‘The Edge,’ a track about the painful breakdown and complete blow up of her friendship with her best friend. Now, Shay shares its official music video. Speaking on the new visual, Shay wrote: “The video was directed by Eleanor Grace Hann. It’s our first time working together on a music video. I had made the concept for the video myself. I wanted the video to be quite literal, ie. actually dancing on an edge of a cliff with a ‘friend’. It was mostly shot at Beachy Head (in the UK), in one day, (a very cold day). It shows the emotional tail end of a friendship breaking down and the comparison to how far it had fallen. My main reference and inspiration for this video was the movie ‘Thirteen,’ one of my favourite movies of all time since I was about 13 myself. It’s a movie about two troubled girls forming an inseparable bond and friendship only for it to go sour and destroy them both.” ‘The Edge,’ alongside its B-side ‘everything’s been happening,’ tells the story of how, once you finally come out of something that had grown bad for you, you reflect and realise so many cracks showed long before you accepted that as the case. Shay reveals, “Despite missing her and the good parts of the friendship so much, I know in order to still respect myself, I have to honour the power of an apology, and in this case, the lack of one.” Both tracks voice the understanding of the power that someone’s dream can hold over their well-being and happiness. Shay admits, “I am guilty of this myself, a lot of my mental health, personality and entire identity are completely wrapped up in my work.” She continues, “This is the same for a lot of creatives and people with a dream or goal from a young age in general. On realising that these goals may not happen the way you’d always planned, or realising things are going to be much harder than you ever expected, this can cause trouble for some people who lack the courage. I think me and my friend are guilty of this, and subsequently this triggered the downfall.” Staying true to her irresistible indie pop sound, ‘The Edge’ shines with kaleidoscopic synths, a contagious beat and energetic melodies. Despite the song’s melancholy theme, sonically it’s the ultimate get up and dance track, allowing you to lose yourself in the music.

Dutch/British artist Someone (aka composer, producer, and visual artist Tessa Rose Jackson) shares the final single ‘Guess I’m Changing’ from her second album Owls, both released now on Tiny Tiger Records. A lush, enveloping psych-pop track recalling the stirring emotional heights of contemporaries such as Feist or Sharon Van Etten and accompanied by a sci-fi visual telling the tale of an android’s awakening, created alongside up-and-coming Hollywood director David Spearing. “This song and video are about rediscovering yourself”, explains Someone “Daring to break a pattern, to accept a chance in yourself and feel free in the journey.” Heavily inspired by the work of Stanley Kubrick as well as Netflix’s ‘Maniac’ and Apple TV’s ‘Severance’ series, the visual follows an android working in a postal factory. “She lives the same loop every day,” explains Someone, “until she a postcard with a picture of a beautiful beach and she starts to realize there may be a bigger, wider world out there. Bit by bit, she starts to break the rules of her rigidly structured life, until finally she manages to break free.” “We wanted to say something about being caught in the mundane routine, whatever that is, and how to break free of that” adds director and long-term collaborator David Spearing. “How the smallest, most seemingly insignificant thing could pull your whole world apart (in a positive way). A nice melancholy idea… set to the most beautiful song.”

One of the UK’s most exciting rising stars and dance-pop icon in waiting Rose Gray has shared her brand new single ‘Ecstasy’, which premiered as Clara Amfo’s Hottest Record in the World on BBC Radio 1, in celebration of her new EP Higher Than The Sun also out now. Speaking about new track ‘Ecstasy’, which is Rose’s biggest floorfiller yet, she explains “’Ecstasy’ is a club banger moment for me. Much like most of my favorite 90’s dance records there’s just this explosion, pure ecstasy, pure anthemic ravey bliss. I played this at Printworks supporting Shygirl and just from how the crowd reacted, I knew I had to lead the EP with this as a single. I wrote it with frequent collaborator Alex Metric, in the studio I became obsessed with the lyric ‘Higher Than The Sun’, it was written in under an hour and felt just so right from the offset. It’s a club record. It undeniably makes you want to dance.“ The track is released alongside a sci-fi chic video, starring Rose and directed by Rauri Cantelo. “We wanted it to feel like a 1990’s meets 1960’s sci-fi,” explains Rose. “I was never very good at science at school, but put me in a Gucci lab coat and it seems I’m able to clone myself into hundreds of Roses.” Director Rauri says, “It’s essentially mad scientist meets uncanny valley, and what better way to show that than by having Rose conduct atom-altering experiments on herself.”

Ahead of the release of her new EP Back to the Start on April 7 via LUSTRE, indie-rock rising talent Mazey Haze (aka Amsterdam based musician Nadine Appeldoorn) has revealed her new single ‘Kill Me I Got You’ – accompanied by a black & white 16mm music video, shot in Hervelinghen, France by Wietger Mosch; inspired by the Swedish film ‘Kärlek 65’, and Mr. Bean. Written about sacrificing your own personal authenticity to appease someone else’s desires, the prowling, 60s psych-rock rhythm of ‘Kill Me I Got You’ is an exercise in recognising patterns within herself in relationships. With this song, Appeldoorn feels she has at last gotten to know herself, no matter how uncomfortable those moments of self-reflection may be: “I’ve learned that I should never force things with other people and be honest with myself and others – and I shouldn’t be afraid to communicate that.” Speaking more on the lyrical inspiration of new single ‘Kill Me I Got You’, Appeldoorn said: “It’s about how the search for a profound, real connection with other people can be confusing, lonely and complicated. Why do I ‘kill’ myself to be who someone else wants me to be just so I can be with them?”

Jonnine Standish of HTRK shares the self-directed video for her new track ‘Tea for Two (Boo)’, a haunted and whimsical ghost story taken from Jonnine’s new album Maritz, out later this month. [via Gorilla vs Bear]

Lizzo just dropped her newest music for her song ‘Special’— a glorious start to Black History Month, if you ask us — where she turns into a badass superhero with lengthy flowing waves, vibrant purple eye makeup, and very long nails. She stars as a waitress named Melly (a nod to Lizzo’s legal name, Melissa), who leads a secret double life as a superhero named Lizzo. Unfortunately, in this universe, Melly nor Lizzo are beloved by the general public. Despite that, Lizzo does still have a few fans including a little Black girl with curly hair who adores the superhero. [via Glamour Magazine]

Mol Sullivan isn’t going to let us off the hook. ‘Bury the Hatchet’ is an earworm built around unexpected structures and inventive pop-infused melodies. The Cincinnati-based songwriter’s new EP, A Little Hello, took a circuitous path through struggle and recovery to find its footing in a space where hard questions don’t get buried, and her voice is ready to, as she puts it, “howl a bit.” ‘Bury the Hatchet’ explores how avoidance and intimacy conspire to bring on longing and heartbreak. Sullivan is pointed, asking in the opening verse over emotive guitar leads and buoyant keyboard arrangements, “How can we bury the hatchet when you’re keeping it hidden? How can we unearth the truth and still find room for forgiveness?” Presented through a narrative that sees a wide-eyed version of Sullivan dressed as a cowgirl, navigating a bright-hued world where the cracks are beginning to show. It’s an incredible, strangely-moving video directed and produced by Sullivan. As she repeats the chorus, “What a shame,” over and over, the realization that this desire for openness isn’t going to be returned sets in. Her expressions heighten the lyrics’ emotional impact. “I was just trying to get through to you,” she croons, “But it turns out, I guess, that was too hard to do.” It’s straightforward, but the lilting timbre of her voice makes it hit so hard. When scenes shift to Sullivan’s other side, we are wide awake. A sharp-edged guitar solo and classic “Yeehaw!” send us into the distance. Sullivan tapped into something timeless and unforgettable on ‘Bury the Hatchet,’ using grit and courage to show so much vulnerability that it’s impossible not to feel a deep connection. [via Foxy Digitalis]

Adelaide based singer-songwriter Nyassa first came to attention through her work with the Hilltop Hoods, performing vocals on their The Great Expanse album and touring with the band in 2019 and 2022. She has now stepped into the limelight with the release of her debut single, the spectacular ‘Ghost’. Written by Nyassa with Telenova’s Edward Quinn, the track has a gorgeous, minimalist electronica sound which allows Nyassa’s breathtaking vocals to become the focus and drive the song firmly into your heart. Her passionate, multi-tracked vocals powering through the soaring melodies in the chorus make it quite possibly the most powerful and addictive 15 seconds you will hear in pop all year. Lyrically the song tells of the moment when you know you have to leave a relationship even though that carries a huge amount of pain. “I will love you even when I’m a ghost,” she sings. “Making music feels like being in love – you’re in another world, a beautiful one,” Nyassa says. “I want to make people feel something that they can’t explain. I naturally put a piece of my soul into my songs.” A music video for ‘Ghost’ has also been released. Creatively directed by Nyassa, it was filmed at the historic Martindale Hall and Mintaro Maze and showcases Nyassa’s love of avant-garde fashion and art, in particular couture runways from the 1980s and 1990s and classic 1980s silhouettes. “There’s just something so bold about wearing shoulder pads – I feel as if they hold a power,” she says. “I’m drawn to fashion that looks like art. I love having no boundaries when designing. [From a young age] I didn’t care what everyone else was wearing, it was more important for me to wear what I loved, no matter how different I looked.” [via Women In Pop]

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‘Could You Go For Me?’ is light and shimmering, with an expansive electronic sound recalling French duo Air, beautifully complimented by Someone’s featherlight vocal telling the tale of a long-forbidden love that has finally been permitted to ‘be.’

“The song is drenched in relief, longing and trepidation for how the fantasy will feel when it becomes real” explains Someone, “The vocals are ethereal and wide, inviting yet fragile: Here is my heart. Be gentle.”

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SOMEONE is the moniker for Dutch/British composer, producer, and visual artist Tessa Rose Jackson. Through her art and music, she tells science-fiction inspired stories combined with stunning, cinematic music videos in collaboration with Hollywood’s rising star director David Spearing. Following its premiere by Cerys Matthews, BBC 6 Music, SOMEONE shares new single ‘In Your Arms’, the third to be taken from her forthcoming second album Owls. It describes love and joy in a burning world wrapped in the beguiling song writing craft of Feist and the expansive electronics of Air, whilst musically hitting an emotional, synth-fuelled high reminiscent of festival bombshells such as MGMT’s ‘Kids’ and Tame Impala’s ‘Let It Happen’. The accompanying ‘In Your Arms’ visual, created by the LA Film Award winning duo SOMEONE and David Spearing, is a bittersweet sci-fi vignette which evokes the mysticism and atmospheric pull of Chernobyl’s wasteland. It follows two young girls as they emerge from their subterranean bunkers for a day of adventure in what SOMEONE describes as “A post-apocalyptic world, where the air is toxic and terrifying six-legged creatures prowl the land.” As SOMEONE expands “What follows is a day filled with fun and play, because no matter what the world may throw at them, kids will always find a way to just simply… be kids. It’s a celebration of the power of joyfulness and love against all odds”.

Tāmaki Makaurau electro-pop whiz kids Brother Sister have reemerged with a power-packed new video for their anthem ‘Breakdown’, which first surfaced on their 2019 EP SSDD. Gleefully piling up ’80s throwback signifiers to such an extent we suspect they must have access to the very best op shops in the super city, the trio of Taz (formerly of Master Blaster and Club Stupid), Dave and Ben (both of Alex the Kid) extoll the dubious virtues of a stay-at-home life away from workaday stress in their MTV-ready synth-pop banger. Channeling Brother Sister’s love for the sound and visuals of near-forgotten Saturday morning cartoons, director / editor Dave Thomson’s (Imaginary Friends) clip for ‘Breakdown’ walks a pastel-hued line between cute, stylish and intensely over-caffeinated. [via Under The Radar]

Tove Lo is back with a vengeance. She may have made her name as an indie sleaze trailblazer, but with each taste of her forthcoming album, DIRT FEMME (October 14, Pretty Swede Records/mtheory), Tove Lo gives us something new to chew on. The visual for her last single, ‘2 Die 4,’ recalls her early party girl days through a distinct artistic lens. The video, directed by Anna-Lisa Himma, takes the best parts of Y2K to the extreme. In blue, green and pink hues, Tove Lo resurrects the Europop club scene that brought her fame in the early 2010s. ‘2 Die 4’ is all the best bits of the early 2000s club scene, and less of the mess. It is calculated chaos. The visual makes a splash with polished choreography, high-glam looks and lots and lots of wet t-shirts. Tove Lo’s entourage gets wet and wild in a giant pool a la Le Bain, leaving sequins and sweat in their wake. “We wanted to make a pop bitch Y2K experience,” Tove Lo said in a statement about the video. “With all the choreo, the outfits, the wetness. I think we more than delivered.” Tove Lo understood the assignment. Playing up the camp elements of Euro party scenes by cosplaying as a garnish in a giant martini glass, and elevating tropes of the genre by transforming strobes into moody spotlights, ‘2 Die 4’ brings Y2K to 2022. ‘2 Die 4’ doesn’t simply glamorize and replicate the past — as Y2K nostalgia often falls victim to — but creates new icons from timeless relics. Noting the sample of Hot Butter’s 1972 classic ‘Popcorn’ which became a club anthem in the early 2000s with a techno remix, Tove Lo speaks to the legacy of her newest work. “With ‘2 Die 4’ I wanted ‘instantly iconic’ energy. I’ve never sampled anything before, and this feels like the perfect first moment. Lyrically I wanted it to be that ‘pick me up when I’m feeling down’ song. At first, it’s like a warm hug, then you shake it off, let out a scream and start dancing!” This visual did leave us doing all of the above. [via Paper]

London based songwriter Molly Payton has shared new single ‘Do It All The Same’. The songwriter was raised in New Zealand, before making her way to the UK. 2022 has become something of a banner year, with Molly Payton playing a slew of high profile festivals, alongside support slots with Arlo Parks, TomOdell, Oscar Lang, and Wallice. Set to hit the road with Beabadoobee shortly, those dates are Down Under – with Molly returning to New Zealand in the process. Alongside this, she’s set to release new EP Compromise on October 28, with lead single ‘Do It All The Same’ online now. Her first new music in 12 months, ‘Do It All The Same’ is a moment of acceptance, with Molly Payton honing in on what delivers true happiness. A song about moving past difficulties in your life, writing it allowed Molly to locate some light amid the darkness. She comments… “This song came about after I’d had a particularly bad run of things. I was out of money and about to start a tour I couldn’t afford and really doubting my future. When you’re living that way it makes you really appreciate any consistency you can get your hands on, and for me that was my partner. ‘Do It All The Same’ isn’t anything profound or groundbreaking, it’s just me thanking another person for being there for me.” [via Clash]

Hamburg trio Roller Derby have shared shimmering new single ‘Only You’. The three-piece formed back in 2020, a trio of friends with hugely disparate influences. Philine Meyer (vocals, keys), Manuel Romero Soria (guitar) and Max Nielsen (bass) craft dreamily evocative pop music, melding together superb tapestries of sound with dynamic songwriting. Lyrically astute, the way Roller Derby interlock seems to suggest three voices working in tandem, informing their music with a real sense of emotional pull. Freshly signed to independent label Practise Music, Roller Derby’s new single ‘Only You’ glides back into view. A succinct alt-pop song, the somnambulist tapestries of sound come together to craft something potent and direct. Out now, it’s accompanied by a full video. Roller Derby explain: “In the video we have been trying to create an ambiguous atmosphere, where strong feelings for a person lead to something rather surreal and quirky…” [via Clash]

In 2021, Alex Lahey released a couple new songs, ‘On My Way’ and ‘Spike The Punch.’ They were her first singles since 2019 sophomore LP The Best Of Luck Club, but apparently both were interstitial tracks not attached to any larger project. ‘Congratulations,’ Lahey’s new single out today, is billed as the launch of a new chapter. It is not a MGMT or Post Malone cover, but rather an original that finds Lahey telling off an ex: “So happy for your perfect life/ There’s something in my eye/ I’m doin’ just fine without you.” Actually, according to Lahey’s statement, those lines are directed at more than one former partner: “Two of my exes got engaged within an improbably short space of time of one another. What are the odds? I couldn’t not write a song inspired by it.” In a video directed by Jon Danovic described by Lahey as “unhinged,” she makes out with herself: “It felt like the perfect time to execute a long standing concept I had of making out with myself on camera. Now both the song and the video feel like a message about choosing yourself over anyone else.” [via Stereogum]

Doechii and SZA release the much-anticipated video for ‘Persuasive.’ Directed by Sara Lacombe, the club-ready collaboration of Top Dawg Entertainment’s two female powerhouses makes the song and sultry video next-level intoxicating. The song is featured on Doechii’s acclaimed EP she / her / black bitch. The upbeat R&B anthem showcases Doechii’s impressive ability to flex her signature versatile flows into Grammy-winner SZA’s immaculate vibes. “I created ‘Persuasive’ to uplift people and bring communities together, so having SZA jump on the song was a perfect fit because I’ve always connected with others over her music,” says Doechii. “Knowing that SZA is with TDE was what originally got me most excited about being on this label, so now that we have a song together it’s a full-circle moment. She really ATE! This collaboration is everything I always imagined it to be.” [via Broadway World]

Ava Max is making a play to take over the pop stratosphere. The 28-year old star’s 2020 debut album, Heaven & Hell, is officially a platinum certified release and now her follow-up album, Diamonds & Dancefloors, is on deck. The album’s original October release date has been pushed back to next January 27, but that just gives the singer more time to work with in the lead up. Enter ‘Million Dollar Baby,’ her latest single which is out now along with an opulent video. “When I was creating this record, I was going through a really hard time in my life – heartbreak and just a lot of sadness,” Max said in a statement. “I titled it ‘Million Dollar Baby’ to remind myself of my self-worth and wrote the lyrics to show that you can overcome and achieve anything when you put your mind to it. The line ‘She broke out of her chains, turned the fire into rain’ shows the journey this song took me through – from feeling weighed down by sadness to breaking free and feeling like myself again.” [via UPROXX]

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