Mid 2000’s pop is ultimately a very superior style of songwriting and production. I mean look at the pop HISTORY that the likes of Gwen Stefani, Fergie, Christina Aguilera, Justin Timberlake, Pussycat Dolls, Mika, Rihanna, and Nelly Furtado made. It’s called iconic shit only. And in 2021 I wouldn’t mind a resurgence of this style of pop music, because lets be real, we could always do with a euphoric dance moment.
Newcomer ASTON is ready to lead the way with this returning trend with her new single ‘Killer Queen’. Tapping Nelly Furtado’s ‘Maneater’ for inspiration, this track is confidently layered and unapologetically driven. Beginning with a dark and moody baseline that immediately serves some low-key Rihanna vibes, she then switches it up with a fiery hook that will simply give you a pop eargasam. It’s a sound that was very in during the circa 2007-2010 era, and it’s one that I’ve missed a lot in recent years. There’s just a level of carefree ecstasy that’s injected into the production that elevates the whole sound and vision. She even serves you a gritty bridge, which is something that has become quite rare in pop songs as of recent, and we sure do LOVE a good bridge moment.
In her Instagram bio she states that she’s “somewhere between Rockstar and Pop princess”, and this song perfectly captures that statement. When Rita Ora first jumped on the scene in 2012 with ‘How We Do’, she definitely had that same approach sonically, but over the years she’s lost it and gone towards a more clean-cut pop and RNB sound. So Aston has perfectly slid in there and taken up that space with this tune which could’ve easily been a cut from ‘Ora’.
Asserting a distinct confidence into the song, she channels powerful women who do what they want, and take no prisoners. “I wanna be her, need her, I wanna feel her see her, I need to leave her, grieve her, but she got her claws in me” she sings before later “kissing my neck with her knife, she’s just so mean. Yeah, she’s a killer queen”.
‘Killer Queen’ is a confident, empowering and playful song, that brings back euphoric mid 2000’s pop that I know you’ve all missed. It’s a very strong follow up to her debut single ‘Girl Is A Gun’ and certifies that you NEED to keep your eyes on her.