4/5
Ultraviolence
Love lies bleeding, this New Music Friday, as the striking single 'RIP KP' spearheads the 'Girl Violence' of the third album from Mikaela Mullaney Straus, AKA, King Princess, one of the best pop stars and artists in the game right now. Recent controversial comments aside and an album title that couldn't have come at a worse time this week, we should all still hail the King and the Princess. Besides, 'Girl Violence', like it's outstanding, opening title-track, is no play on words. "I'm tired of crying and tired of trying/Why does nobody mention that girls can be violent?" It's a problem we should all pay attention too. Straus follows her expensive, dominant debut ('Cheap Queen') and sensational sophomore set ('Hold On Baby') that came out three years ago (WHAT?!), with a more straight-forward and personal project that makes her Holy Trinity a big-three.
Acting in 'Nine Perfect Strangers'. Stirring up dating rumours with the forever young Christine Baranski, almost 50 years her senior (hey, nothing wrong with that, I would). King Princess is ready for her throne of stardom, even if the single plays up on those in cancel culture who want to say rest in peace to the career of KP. Nuts. Not when you have a lucky for us, thirteen new tracks. Ones that share title names with Cyndi Lauper ('Girls'), Johnny Cash ('Cry Cry Cry'), and even 'West Side Story' ('I Feel Pretty'), but are their own individual gems from the Brooklyn, New Yorker, who is still only 26 years old. Although that's the sweet spot, prime of one's young life. 'Say What You Will' about a great duet with Joe Talbot, this album is stacked with big names, even though it only has one more guest feature than a J.Cole LP. The great 'Thalia', the moment we made our bed and fell in love with this Princess, even has some competition in the standout 'Jaime' and the sweet serve of 'Serena' as this album meets its match point.
"It's really nice to meet you, it’s been a little rough for a minute/I've had to face fire, fight fear, and spend a lot of time in the mirror/And I'm cool, I'm weirder, yeah, I'm hot, I'm deeper/I'm starting to feel myself again/Now I'm a f###### sleeper", the King sings on her 'Origin' story. But it's 'Get Your Heart Broken' that will really take yours ("Oh, so baby let the shame rub off/Death by a thousand cuts, ah-ah/Scared that you're one of us/That would be the best of luck, ah-ah") in the blurred ruby red of the album artwork. Pulling back the 'Covers' on a brief, but beautiful track, the singer-songwriter with a career catalogue of inspired interludes sings "I suppose that I'm only a ghost/And you never want to see me in your room/I'll see you in your room/And at the most, you'll hear scratching at your post/And you'll wonder if it's me who's haunting you" before the dawn. Meanwhile, 'Slow Down and Shut Up' may be life advice I need to heed right now (it's saved on my Spotify, every time I see the app on my drop-down menu, but 'Alone Again' strikes the deepest chord. "Crying on the floor, begging through the door/Now I'm alone again/Screaming through the phone, I should have probably known/Now I'm alone again." But together in another crowning year of women in music (see, Haim), we know she won't quit. TIM DAVID HARVEY.
Playlist Picks: 'Jaime', 'Get Your Heart Broke', 'RIP KP'.
Spin This: Haim - 'I Quit'
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