New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Today, EMELINE premieres her fierce and fearless new single "makeout with a stranger." Released via Capitol Records, "makeout with a stranger" boldly celebrates the power in breaking free from a toxic situationship and going after what you truly want.
Co-written by EMELINE, Caroline Pennell (Demi Lovato, Kesha, FLETCHER), Orion Meshorer (Yung Gravy, Alt Bloom), and
David Schaeman (Depeche Mode), "makeout with a stranger" brings the Rhode Island-born singer/songwriter's alluring vocals to a deeply relatable tale of a once-thrilling fling gone sour. After opening on a confession of her dissatisfaction ("Pretty boy we've been here a while/Undefined love, good sex, no title/Idiot shit, it makes me spiral"), EMELINE ultimately turns the tables on her one-time object of lust ("I been a heart broke turn to a heartbreaker/The best decision that I ever made was 'see ya later'"). Closing out with a throat-shredding outburst of angst, "makeout with a stranger" fully reaffirms her as an artist unafraid to express her needs and desires, with a courage and candor that sets her apart.
"makeout with a stranger" is the peak of chaotic newly single energy, says EMELINE. "I like for my lyrics to feel as ruthless and brutally honest as I am at a girls night. I originally wrote this chorus on the guitar as a broken hearted punk song as I was getting over my ex-girlfriend and then continued writing it about a messy situationship I was in. A breakup is full of many emotions but for this song I wanted to capture the bits of excitement that comes with looking into a future of new memories and fun experiences instead of looking backwards."
To create the spellbinding sound of "makeout with a stranger," EMELINE co-produced alongside Mike Wise (Ellie Goulding, Charli XCX), Meshorer, and Schaeman. Both exquisitely controlled and fantastically free-spirited, the track merges its sleek textures and hard-strutting beats with the unbridled energy of live drums, guitar, bass, and keys — a dynamic beautifully suited to the pure explosion of emotion EMELINE brings to every line.
Her first new music since June's "everything i'm not" — a poignant yet unapologetic anthem she described as "fueled with feminine rage" — "makeout with a stranger" is the latest evidence of EMELINE's sophisticated musicality and self-possessed point of view. With over 560 million combined global streams to date, the 25-year-old arist first gained major momentum with songs like "cinderella's dead" — an early-2022 release that cracked the Top 20 on the Spotify Daily Viral chart and Top 25 on the US Spotify Viral 50 chart. A multi-instrumentalist who plays guitar and piano, she's also delivered outspoken songs like "strut," "what it means to be a girl," "this is how i learn to say no," "venting to strangers," and "feelings."
EMELINE broke through with her hypnotic single "flowers & sex," a 2021 release that hit #4 on Spotify's U.S. Viral 50 chart, surpassed 10 million global streams within just eight weeks, and earned praise from outlets like Earmilk and Paper, who noted that the "blunt pop anthem… arrives at a time when people are craving a little self-love and a lot of sexual pleasure after a year of endless isolation." An essential new voice for all those navigating the minefield of sex and love in the modern world, she's now at work on more new music driven by her mission of uplifting and supporting women everywhere.
