LAUFEY – ‘CALIFORNIA AND ME’
The latest single from the Icelandic-Chinese jazz extraordinaire’s new album ‘Bewitched’ is quite possibly her most heart achingly beautiful yet. Opening with a melancholic piano melody and layers of classical fairytale instrumentals from London’s Philharmonia Orchestra, Laufey reflects on being left behind in LA as a lover returns to an old flame. “The mountains of LA will weep through the night / Driving down sunset’s a terrible sight,” she sings, aching at the thought of something “so damn wicked”.
SELENA GOMEZ – ‘SINGLE SOON’
Selena Gomez is so over it. Her end of summer pop anthem is an ode to the single life, going out and embracing the moment with friends. “I’m picking out this dress / Trying on these shoes / Cause I’ll be single soon,” she sings over a thumping beat and pulses of synths, a taste of the independent spirit of “freedom” that she’s promised in her anticipated next album.
MITSKI – ‘STAR’
Released alongside new track ‘Heaven’, both from her forthcoming seventh album ‘The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We’, ‘Star’ sees Mitski reflect on a celestial kind of love that changed it all and “taught me to live for somebody”. A twinkling and delicately detailed instrumental section swells and soars as she reveals she’s keeping the light burning and asks, “Isn’t that worth holdin’ on?”
ABBY ROBERTS – ‘IMPOSTER SYNDROME’
Co-penned alongside Halsey, Roberts described writing her ‘80s gothic-inspired new track as “one of the weirdest and most natural writing experiences”. Born out of the pair’s conversation about their own run-ins with imposter syndrome, the track plays with subtle retro details like sizzling drums and lush synths (“like The Cure but with a bit of a pop twist”), as Roberts declares that it “seems like my imposter is dying to stay”.
HANNAH GRAE – ‘SCREW LOOSE’
Written about “feeling trapped in your decisions” while “relying on other people to follow through with their promises, feeling stale and static”, ‘Screw Loose’ is angsty, raucous and so damn cathartic. A song you can cry, dance or scream at the top of your lungs to, Hannah Grae runs head on at the realisation that even as you pursue your wants and desires, you can’t lose yourself along the way.
