SZA has shared a video for her SOS cut, ‘Kill Bill’. Taking inspiration from Quentin Tarantino’s 2003 film of the same name, the clip follows SZA as she exacts her revenge on her ex-boyfriend. Directed by Christian Breslauer, the video begins with SZA seemingly happily in love before her boyfriend ends their relationship. Immediately after the bombshell, SZA finds her trailer under siege by a pair of gunmen, sent by her ex. Determined not to be outdone, SZA takes matters into her own hands, suiting up with her sword and enacting her revenge. As you would. [via Dork]

In February, Margaret Sohn, who performs as Miss Grit, will release their debut album, Follow The Cyborg. Already we’ve heard singles ‘Like You’ and the title track. Now, Sohn is sharing a pounding, effects-laden new track, ‘Lain (Phone Clone),’ which has an accompanying video and was “inspired by Serial Experiments Lain, Yasuyuki Uedaʼs anime about a girl whose online self attempts to drag her physical self away from reality.” Sohn adds: “I feel like the divide between my inner and outer self can grow so big sometimes that it feels like I’m being eclipsed by this big cringey monster. I wanted to write this to mock the monster and remind myself I’m not powerless against it.” [via Stereogum]

MAY-A has kicked off a new chapter in style with her latest track, ‘Sweat You Out My System’. Fresh from touring Australia with 5 Seconds of Summer, MAY-A is back with an enigmatic new track. After a mammoth 2022 celebrating her incredible debut album, Don’t Kiss Ur Friends, she has begun a new era with the infectious ‘Sweat You Out My System’.  MAY-A has also shared an official video for the track, which you can check out below. On the track, MAY-A says: “Writing ‘Sweat You Out My System’ felt like it opened so many doors in my brain to other types of music I’m excited to make. A structured collage of rap-style moments, guitar riffs, yelling and hooks. SYOMS is pretty up-front lyrically, it plays on the idea of being completely addicted to someone: ‘Missing you like a little kid/waiting for you to get back/I wish for you in my veins/so addicted it’s insane.’ The whole song stays on theme of the feeling of trying to ‘quit’ someone (hence —sweating them out like drugs), because fuck going back!” [via Dork]

Breakout singer and songwriter Mimi Webb has released her latest pop anthem, ‘Red Flags’. The high-energy track gives fans another taste of what to expect from her forthcoming debut album, Amelia, out March 3. Mimi’s powerful vocals and lyrics are brought to life in the music video, directed by Drew Kirsch, as she takes viewers on a journey of hindsight, revenge, and reclaiming power that every scorned lover dreams about. The song was written by Mimi Webb, Connor McDonough, Toby McDonough, Ryan Daly, Castle, Cirkut, and produced by Connor McDonough, Ryan Daly, and Cirkut.

Chicago’s Bnny released an excellent debut LP Everything back in 2021 (via Fire Talk), and now they are sharing a new music video for their marvellous 2022 single, ‘Breaking Up’. The magically beautiful black and white visuals were directed by Weird Life Films. [via Acute Pop]

Emeryld releases her new EP, Bloodline, featuring the dynamic high-powered single, ‘Take The Exit’ accompanied by an equally hypercharged music video. She is the newest signing on Neon Gold Records, the record label that brought you Charli XCX, HAIM, MARINA, Christine and the Queens, etc.

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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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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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