GLR’s creative services members review the latest music from February 2025!
“Abracadabra” - Lady Gaga
Written by Betsy Solomon
Making a return to her electronic-pop roots, Lady Gaga released Abracadabra on February 3, 2025, topping charts almost immediately after its release. The dark pop sound amplifies her lyrics that discuss the hardships we encounter in life and how we overcome them: “As the dust flies, watch it burn, don't waste time on a feelin', use your passion, no return.” Through her troubles, Gaga always finds a way to persevere and find beauty in the world, and she reflects on this experience through every aspect of the single. The techno-esque production is so classically Gaga; the vocals behave nearly as a modernized version of her 2009 hit “Bad Romance.” Gaga has had a robust career thus far and proved with this single that she has much more in store.
“blade bird” - Oklou
Written by Matt D’Andrea
French singer and producer Oklou dropped her highly anticipated project choke enough on February 7th. Two days prior, she dropped what would end up being the final song on the album, “blade bird,” a devastating finale about wanting to hold onto a relationship that needs to end. She describes this scenario through a beautiful metaphorical depiction of her partner being a bird, and herself a cage. The “blade” in question is what she wishes to use to clip the bird's wings, though she knows that if she is to go through with it, then she’ll “be the one who ends up getting hurt,” knowing that she prevented her partner from going where they need to be. Through clever lyrics, she further elaborates, “I'll miss you when the wings I fell in love with take you away again.” The dreamy instrumental consists of acoustic guitar accompanied by stuttering synths and tight drums, written and produced by Oklou herself alongside Casey MQ. While choke enough holds a plethora of wonderfully produced tracks, the fantastically immersive writing on “blade bird” certainly brings it to stand out as one of the best songs on the album.
“ExtraL” - JENNIE ft. Doechii
Written by Caden Garza
Forming her own identity as an artist outside of BLACKPINK, JENNIE released the single “ExtraL”, an addictive, feel-good track that blends hip-hop, R&B, and pop. Much like “Run the World (Girls)” by Beyonce, it focuses on female empowerment but does so in a subtle contemporary style, including lyrics such as “Wait, Do my ladies run this?” and “All my girls looking good and got their own money”. Doechii’s feature on this track is noteworthy– her flow, message, and compatibility with JENNIE wrap the track up nicely. JENNIE’s debut album, Ruby, releases on March 7th.
“Flood” - Little Simz
Written by Daniel Lopez
At the end of her 2024 single, “Hello, Hi,” UK rapper Little Simz teased new music in 2025. On February 26th, Simz followed through on her promise and released the lead single, “Flood” for her upcoming album Lotus. The song marks a new type of sound we haven’t heard much of from Simz before, leaning into its intense percussion. Nigerian singer Obongjayar offers vocals, returning after most notably being featured in “Point and Kill” from Simz’s 2021 album Sometimes I Might Be Introvert.Moonchild Sanelly offers her part for the post-chorus, speaking in Xhosa, a South African language, which contributes to the tribal identity of the song. This is especially stressed in the accompanying culture-rich music video directed by Salomon Ligthelm. Diving deeper into the lyrics, Simz offers a commentary on her vulnerability and return to music, telling the listener to not take the criticism personally and ignore the people who are “all bark, no bite.” Simz’s songwriting ability in this song to address her own individual feelings is setting the stage for Lotus, releasing in May, which is looking to be one of her best and most personal projects to date.
“High Fashion” - Addison Rae
Written by Daniel Rateau
“I don’t want cheap love, I’d rather get high fashion,” is just one line from the addictive chorus presented in TikTok star-turned-rising pop girl, Addison Rae. With songs such as “Diet Pepsi” and “Aquamarine,” Rae has consistently proven herself as the next rising pop diva, already coining what many may consider her signature sound that has been developed through these three singles so far. “High Fashion,” dives into the world of electropop, synth-pop, and even a little Europop where our protagonist sings about the necessities of haute couture over the stereotypical party and drug culture of other pop icons of different eras. The lyrics “I don’t want cheap love” continue to foster the idea of Addison expecting the highest of materialism in her life, even if it refers to love and affection. With her consistent string of singles, Addison Rae, according to fans and music critics alike, is on a hot streak that will lead to hopefully a powerful debut studio album, and launch her on a similar path of social media stars turned future pop sensations.
