As we’re slowly reemerging back to some semblance of normalcy, so have some of our favourite pop princesses who have released new material created while in lockdown.
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From Charli XCX’s upbeat dance number Good Ones to Billie Eilish’s melancholic ballad Happier Than Ever, we chart six of our favourite tunes of the moment we have on loop.
Lana Del Rey has released the first music video for her latest album Blue Banisters which drops October 22. The track, titled Arcadia, is a love letter to her life in Los Angeles, and the music video sees the singer staying true to her roots and adoration for the vintage aesthetic.
In fact, Arcadia transports us back to the early beginnings of her musical journey with a similarly recognisable sound and feel of her 2011 hit tune Video Games. From the yellow top, film projections and video cam recordings of herself, get ready to be served with a serious case of deja vu.
Good Ones, Charli XCX’s first single from her yet-to-be-named fifth album is an infectious ’80s-inspired track. The music video, which sees her looking fearless and powerful, showcases a new chapter in her creative direction.
She says: “The Good Ones video sees me dramatically mourning the untimely loss of my partner as I battle with the realisation that once again I’ve abandoned the goodness in my life, in favour of the sinister, with a visual aesthetic that marks a new era of me: Charli XCX.”
If you’re familiar with Banks’ sirenlike vocals and alt-pop discography, you’ll love the fact that’s she back from her two-year hiatus with her latest music release Skinnydipped.
The song portrays a vulnerable and poetic side and is about “finally letting go of something that you’ve gone back to many times before” and “knowing your worth, shedding the skin you feel no longer fits, and digesting the freedom that comes with that.” Did we mention the gorgeous Bulgari high jewellery and exquisite gowns spotted throughout the video?
Can’t stop listening to Olivia Rodrigo’s Sour album on replay? Why not vibe to the starlet’s latest Y2k-inspired music video for the pop-punk track, Brutal. Directed by artist-slash-photographer Petra Collins, the video is filled with familiar teenage angst and influences from Internet culture as well as a wardrobe of mini-dresses, fishnet stockings, butterfly hair clips, bejewelled tops and the like.
To accompany the video, there is a kitschy-cool web game that takes inspiration from the Apple iPad-created #BrutalMasks seen in the music video.
Enjoy listening to the occasional country-pop tune? You’ll love Kacey Musgraves’s music video Justified which sees the singer on a car ride as she journeys through moving on – and healing – from a summer romance. The empowering video also hints at what’s to come from her next album, Starcrossed, that’s set for release on September 10.
Lorde has taken a whole new spirited direction with the release of her album Solar Power – and this latest single is a testament to her artistry. This catchy and ’00s-sounding tune, and its accompanying music video deals with the idea of finding inner peace and new-age spirituality, health and wellness.
Though Billie Eilish‘s Happier Than Ever may have dropped two months ago, we still can’t get over the album and this titular track that show how much she’s grown after getting out of a toxic relationship and facing her demons. In her Apple-produced documentary The World’s a Little Blurry, Eilish said: “The whole song is just more like nothing even specific that they did, you’re just not happy being with them. Can’t even explain it.”
If you can’t get enough of this banger, be sure to check out her latest concert film Happier Than Ever: A Love Letter To Los Angeles on Disney+. The show is dedicated to the album and sees her performing a setlist alongside her brother and close collaborator Finneas, the Los Angeles Children’s Chorus and the Los Angeles Philharmonic.