New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Today, alternative pop singer and songwriter b�low shares a brand new single entitled �First Place� via Republic Records and Universal Music. The single is featured today on Apple Music�s New
Music Daily and The Zane Lowe Show at 12:00p ET.
On the track, she nods to her roots as a busker on the streets of London by incorporating an airy guitar riff and unshakable organic beat. Highlighting her dynamic range, it builds towards a clever goodbye as she sings wryly, yet melodically on the refrain, �we were never friends in the first place, so why you tryna be my friend now?� It�s an intimate and infectious bop, to say the least.
About the song, she commented, �It�s about somebody who wants your attention but isn�t very genuine. Since we weren�t friends, why do you care today? I definitely went through this experience with a couple of people who only reached out when it was convenient for them. Quarantine was a big light to see who was actually in my life for the right reasons and who care about what was going on. Sonically, it pushed me in the direction I�m headed.�
The new single picks up where she left off on last year�s
Frank Ocean cover �Lost.� The latter gathered 1.5 million Spotify streams and paved the way for more to come.
After racking up just shy of half-a-billion streams and receiving acclaim from Vice, Pigeons & Planes, Billboard, Vogue UK, and more, b�low has learned to trust her gut when it comes to music. The songstress infuses alternative pop with clever observations, personal confessions, and boundary-breaking spirit underpinned by live instrumentation. Spending the first eight years of her life in Germany, she moved to England with her family and started busking by the time she turned eleven. She has lived everywhere from Holland to Toronto and channeled a musical wanderlust into her songwriting. Along the way, she dropped four Eps�Damaged Vol. 1 [2017], Damaged Vol. 2 [2018], Crystalline [2019], and The Contender [2019]�and collaborated with everyone from
Ty Dolla $ign and Mura Masa to
Fall Out Boy and MadeInTYO. Not to mention, she graced the bills of festivals such as Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo, and Osheaga and shined on NBC�s The Today Show. As the world slipped into quarantine during 2020, she settled in Holland and musically turned back the clock. Nodding to favorites from her parents� record collection, she re-embraced formative influences, including Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Kate Bush, Janis Joplin, Joni Mitchell, and The Shins. Creative freedom defines her forthcoming new music, kicked off by the guitar-driven �First Place.�
