45s of the week: Megan Thee Stallion, Clairo, Jodie Harsh and more!

The new tracks you need to hear this week, reviewed by Grace Almond.

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Before we begin, it’s important to note that the biggest comeback track of the week came from Lorde with her sun-drenched single ‘Solar Power’ – we had so much to say about it, we gave it its own article.

MEGAN THEE STALLION – ‘THOT SHIT‘

Megan Thee Stallion does everything with a playful, fearless sense of humour, and that could not be truer on new single ‘Thot Shit’. In an outrageously funny music video, she exacts revenge on the archetypal hypocritical Republican senator, twerking on the side of a refuse truck that runs him over minutes after he leaves abusive comments on her music video for ‘Body’. As he is stuck to the front of the truck, waving his arms, Megan raps “I’ve been lit since brunch, thot shit/ Order ’42 for the table, let’s pop shit/ Missionary or doggy style, I’ma top shit”. Together with an army of other Black women dancers, she continues to terrorise him in several different scenarios. It’s a satisfying, long-overdue middle finger to the fundamentalist right in America who have sustained attacks against her sexual expression.

CLAIRO – ‘BLOUSE’

Clairo’s new track ‘Blouse’ is the first single from her new album ‘Sling’ (co-produced by Jack Antonoff, who also worked on Lorde’s new single). Lorde also provides backing vocals on ‘Blouse’, adding subtle, beautiful harmonies to this moving, gentle ballad. On Twitter, Clairo shared her inspiration behind her upcoming album, explaining that caring for her dog, Joanie, “forced [her] to face [her] own thoughts about parenthood”, and that the album is “a glimpse into a world where [she] found that domesticity is what [she] was missing”. On the floaty, tender ‘Blouse’, Clairo grants us some light relief from the world’s problems, and, in a shift from previous singles including ‘Pretty Girl’, shows us just how versatile she is.

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JODIE HARSH – ‘NO SLEEP’

Happy Pride! Everyone’s favourite drag DJ, Jodie Harsh, is back with new single ‘No Sleep’, and it’s an upbeat, happy groove. Taking us back to the pre-pandemic chaos of the queer nightlife scene, this feverish floor filler is guaranteed to put a smile on your face. Describing the meaning behind the track, Harsh explained how she wanted to express the “end of the night moments and all the clubs we miss”. If you’re as desperate to twirl around at Mighty Hoopla as I am, then Jodie Harsh’s latest offering, ‘No Sleep’, should keep you going until the next queer party.

CHLOE FLOWER – ‘BOHEMIA’

Internationally acclaimed pianist and producer, Chloe Flower, shines on new single ‘Bohemia’. Blending classical arrangements with punchy beats to create a style that Flower has branded as “Popsical”, ‘Bohemia’ is an imaginative, vivid, dramatic cut with an equally powerful accompanying music video. It’s the ideal chill-out track, making classical music a bit more accessible, proving how dynamic and free the genre can be. After rising to fame following her 2019 Grammy’s performance accompanying Cardi B, ‘Bohemia’ is an exciting glimpse at Flower’s unique sound, breaking from the traditions held in the classical world, and forging her own sub-genre.

IMOGEN – ‘BLOODBAG’

IMOGEN’s haunting, empowering new song, ‘Bloodbag’, is her reclaiming her power in the wake of trauma and post-surgery recovery. Speaking about the track, IMOGEN described how she “took [her] literal experiences and used them as imagery to explain some complicated feelings”, referring to “the feeling of being out of kilter with yourself”. Singing “my feet were in my stomach and my stomach in my head / But from above the glass you just lit a tab”, she references her recovery, and in the filmic, harrowing music video, IMOGEN ascends a staircase in an inspirational portrayal of learning to walk again. ‘Bloodbag’ is a powerful, unflinching track, and a brave outing for IMOGEN.

Listen to these and more new tracks on our BRAND NEW playlist.


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