Things Are Getting Pretty Ugly With Zara Larsson
Plus, what I really thought of her latest album Midnight Sun
Ever since I heard her single Midnight Sun back in July, I’ve been so curious to hear what else Zara Larsson had waiting for us on this new album. The production on that track was so unexpected (I think we have MNEK to thank for that), I had a feeling we were in for something a bit less mainstream.
Now that the album is finally here, it’s time to dive back in! Queue Zara Larsson ROUND 02 🐬
This week, I made a track for Pretty Ugly, another single off the album, without listening to the original first. This time I had at least the context of the first single to let me know not to expect some sort of Ain’t My Fault remake, but regardless, I was still going in blind.
Immediately, the hook vocals alone were giving full-on cheerleader chant, so I knew I could do some fun things with that, I was thinking drumline - punchy rhythms, we’re coming to you live from the field. Meanwhile, the verses felt like peak pop-r&b Zara - her voice always reminds me so much of Rihanna when she’s on tracks like that. So right from the first listen, I knew there could be some sort of switch in the production between those two different vibes.
Here’s the acapella if you want to play along and hear what I heard first:
Just from the process of making my own track for this one, I could tell I already liked it a lot more than Midnight Sun. That second verse is just so satisfying! The music video made the whole thing even better - a mud wrestling, girl power anthem? I’ll take it! Pretty Ugly made me even more ready to hear the rest of this album if the other tracks were going to be anything like this one
Haven’t heard the original yet? Check it out here:
Listen to Midnight Sun with me:
Feeling pumped after working on Pretty Ugly, I went straight into a full Midnight Sun album listen-through, ranking each track along the way. The first 5 tracks really had me sold, this could be Zara’s best album yet, but the back half had me questioning some things. Listen along with me and let me know if you agree with my favorite and least favorite tracks.
🔎 Looking for more?
Find all previous episodes in this series here
And make sure to check out my original music wherever you like to stream: https://snd.click/uh8r
If you missed last week’s HUNTR/X episode, check out a preview of the track here: