PinkPantheress is ready to get back to the music with the release of her latest single, “Turn it Up,” marking the musician’s first release since sharing her debut album Heaven Knows in 2023. The propulsive, skittering record builds around a sample of Selena Quintanilla’s “Dreaming of You.”
“Super excited to share my first release of 2024, turn it up, so proud to pay homage to a beautiful song and I hope the people love it too,” PinkPantheress, who wrote and produced the song, shared in a statement. Throughout “Turn it Up,” she captures a pleading back-and-forth between Maria, the protagonist on the record, and her love interest.
“Just show your devotion/Let yourself do the motions/I hate going out/But you just got the promotion/We go to this club/You sing along to look social/To your favorite song,” she sings, later following up with: “I won’t tell them I met you in the club/You remember our favorite song was playing/And every word that came out your mouth was wrong/Oh Maria, Maria/Tell me why you’re always here at night/It seems to me it’s the only time I see ya/And when I thought I’d found purpose in my life/You’re not here.”
PinkPantheress began teasing “Turn it Up” on TikTok as early as March, just before kicking off the North American leg of the Capable of Love tour in support of Heaven Knows. Since the tour concluded on May 5, the musician has shifted her focus back to churning out eclectic and exploratory songs to be worked into her next live show.
“Some people watch me live and think I’m shocking,” PinkPantheress told Rolling Stone UK last year. “And I can’t dance! So honestly, I’m surprised that I’m even here, with the way that I don’t move the way people want me to. And I’m happy, I’m so happy. Because at the end of the day, I can’t pretend to be someone I’m not, I can’t pretend to do any of that.”
On June 7, PinkPantheress will appear on “Snap My Finger” from Kaytranada’s forthcoming album Timeless.
