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Having spent a lot of their childhood watching their father engineer at Mission Sound Studios in Brooklyn, Mikaela Strauss was developing their musical identity from a young age, learning from the best.
Now as queer-pop extraordinaire King Princess, she’s already made their mark, developing a dedicated audience within the LGBTQ+ community and the world at large. This year alone she's played some of the world’s biggest stages supporting Shawn Mendes, Kacey Musgraves, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers - and their latest single indicates she has no intention of stopping!
‘Change the Locks’ begins with a gentle ambiance, followed by a warm melodic bass line underlining a soothing texture of folk instruments. In particular, a breathy woodwind instrument weaves a melody straight from a lullaby to accompany Mikaele Strauss’ trademark raw story-telling. This is a song filled with the messy emotions break-ups cause: mourning, defiance, vulnerability, and yearning. The chorus hits like a lover scorned, managing to contain both the anger and the hollowness that these kinds of experiences leave you feeling.
Co-written with The National’s Aaron Dessner, you can definitely hear his influence - the aforementioned delicate, folkier opening acts as a poetic contrast to the explosive chorus. It’s a match made in heaven it seems. With particularly hard-hitting lyrics like “You’ve had your heart and body turn to someone’s hobby” juxtaposed with lines like the opening “I have had a million bodies and mostly it’s been awesome” you end up with a break-up song that captures something more; refreshingly nuanced and anthemic in its delivery.
With this single, King Princess easily solidifies their place as one of the most exciting voices in pop; willing to open the Pandora’s Box of the human experience in all its nuance and in doing so create something special.
Ashley Garrod
@ashleygarrodbass
Image: ‘Hold On Baby / Change the Locks’ Official Single Cover
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