Today, artist and songwriter Tessa Violet has released a brand new single, "Games," featuring L.A. indie rock outfit lovelytheband. Listen to the song everywhere now here. An official video for the song will be coming soon!
A standout from her debut album Bad Ideas, "Games" is a radiant showcase of Tessa's signature songwriting prowess, juxtaposing sweeping melodies against a slow-growing, bombastic arrangement, now elevated by lovelytheband's slick vocal. On the song, Tessa describes, "Being cheated on is crazy making. You're suspicious but then your suspicion is dismissed and you start to question your own sense of reality. Games for me is about the tension of suspecting something is up but being paralyzed because it doesn't feel good to call someone a liar."
About the collaboration, Tessa adds: "Soooooo excited about having lovelytheband on Games!!! Honestly I feel like Mitchy's voice on this song really pushes it over the edge!"
Tessa has also announced an upcoming exclusive livestream event - 'Bad Ideas: The Experience' - which will take place May 12 & 13 as a final celebration of Bad Ideas. The event will be shown three times in various time zones. Tickets are available now via Moment House here.
Her first new release of 2021, "Games" marks the culmination of a run of reworked singles Tessa has dropped over the last year. Having had to postpone her 2020 tour due to the pandemic, Tessa forged an alternate path to promote her album: collaborating with artist friends, repackaging fan-favorite singles, and completing the world that is Bad Ideas. In addition to "Games," Tessa debuted a rework of "Bored" with MisterWives, which EUPHORIA. called "the epitome of a quarantine anthem," as well as a new take on "Words Ain't Enough" with Chloe Moriondo, which saw love from Complex.
Late 2020 also saw Tessa debut a new animated official video for single "Wishful Drinking," which skyrocketed to viral success after she launched a TikTok transition video for the track. The challenge has seen 290K+ unique videos in just a few months, amassing 600M collective views and participation from users like Bella Poarch and Jessica Alba. Covering the video release, 1883 Magazine coined Tessa "a true force of nature."
Tessa also spent her quarantined 2020 forging new collaborations with notable media outlets for special live stream performances, including partnerships with SPIN, Bandsintown, EARMILK, and garnering an 'Artist of the Week' designation by Live Nation / Ones To Watch.
An independent artist blazing a path of her own, Tessa Violet released her debut album Bad Ideas fall 2019, rounding out a breakout year for the rising artist. The sole songwriter on all but one of the album's tracks, the project received Spotify's Times Square billboard with hit single "Crush" amassing 175 million+ aggregate streams alone and earning a Genius 'Verified.' The album saw further support from the likes of Billboard, MTV News, and The FADER.
On the live side, Tessa spent 2019 cutting her teeth on the road and establishing herself as a captivating, fearless frontwoman. Catapulting her otherwise spunky, eclectic recordings to an intoxicating new level of raw, unabashed rock, Tessa and her shredding live band sold out headline tours in the U.S. and Europe, joined AJR, COIN, and Misterwives on direct support tours, and played her festival debut at Lollapalooza.
