Baby Queen Announces Debut EP, Shares 'Pretty Girl Lie'

UK-based Baby Queen has announced details of her debut EP, Medicine, set for release on November 6 via Polydor Records. The EP will be released on limited edition colored vinyl, cassette and digital formats and is available to pre-order now. The 6-track collection will include the rising anti-pop star's acclaimed first two singles "Internet Religion" and "Buzzkill" along with the EP's eponymous track "Medicine," and brand new single "Pretty Girl Lie," out today alongside a video directed by Jade Ang Jackman (Sega Bodega, Mabel, Gucci). The satirical clip features cameos from TikTok star and make-up artist Abby Roberts, in her first ever music video appearance, plus actor and dancer Layton Williams.

"I wrote this song after becoming increasingly frustrated with the relationship between my real-life identity and the person I was pretending to be online," Baby Queen aka Bella Latham explains. "I grew up with really bad body dysmorphia which I believe was partly caused by the image of the stereotypically "pretty girl" I saw in the media all around me, and the fact that photoshop made this image completely unattainable. We're heading towards a reality wherein everybody edits their pictures, slims their noses, chisels their jaw bones, whitens their teeth and reshapes their thighs. I'm just over it. It's not cool. It's actually very uncool. If people aren't going to stop doing it, then all the kids should know that nothing is real, and this is my way of telling them that." Watch "Pretty Girl Lie" below.

Baby Queen's most recent track, "Medicine," landed on NPR's New Music Friday playlist and was picked up, among others, by Earmilk who labeled it an "addicting pop gem," and and Coup De Main Magazine who called it "introspective." Across the pond NME called it "a subdued but shiny track that explores the side effects and salves of anti-depressants" and DIY proclaimed her "pop's buzziest new talent." Drawing comparisons to Billie Eilish and Lorde, previous single "Buzzkill" received plaudits from the likes of The New York Times, Billboard, and Alternative Press (who said the single "features grunge grooves feathered with pop sparkles"). The rising South Africa-born artist hailed one of BBC Radio 1's 'New Names' on the Annie Mac Show (listen back here), and BBC Radio 1's Jack Saunders extolled its "brilliantly sugary sweet grunge".

Baby Queen is a deeply personal project for Bella, born out of feeling like a misfit as she tried to fit into London life, pulled into a vacuum of fashion parties and Instagram influencers. Exposure to a world of fake personalities and self-obsession brought her back to her first passion and she felt compelled to write songs about her experiences. The forthcoming Medicine EP will further reveal her songwriting artistry. "I want to make music that people can connect to so much that they feel like they don't have to change," she says. All hail Baby Queen.

Watch the official video for "Pretty Girl Lie" here: