Shura Shares New Single & Video
“World’s Worst Girlfriend”
New Album I Got Too Sad For My Friends Out May 30 via Play It Again Sam
British singer-songwriter and producer Shura shares her new single “World’s Worst Girlfriend“. It is the third single taken from her recently announced album I Got Too Sad For My Friends, to be released on May 30 via Play It Again Sam.
The self-deprecation of “World’s Worst Girlfriend” is offset by Shura’s familiar tears-under-the-mirrorball pop sensibilities and razor-sharp sense of humor. “Fuck my life,” she trills over a groundswell of synths and punchy tom drums, a delightful blend of emotional vulnerability and playfulness that showcases Shura’s gift for turning personal turmoil into anthemic, danceable pop.
Shura says: “World’s Worst Girlfriend is me at my peak dramatic gay. An anthem about feeling like a spectacularly bad girlfriend because instead of going on nice dates I mostly wanted to stay inside and hide away from the world with our cats and play video games.”
The years since her last album forevher have been turbulent in ways both good and bad. Shura became a pro-streamer, played Baldur’s Gate 3 (twice), and made the Love Lies Bleeding-influenced decision to become a muscle mommy. On the flipside, the pandemic forced her to abandon the forevher tour midway and knocked her sense of identity in the process. Music became too painful to listen to. Living in New York and separated from family, she began pre-grieving for her loved ones while having a very real health scare of her own. She was physically isolated from friends, and felt emotionally isolated by them in turn.
Though it’s an album rooted in themes of depression and loneliness, I Got Too Sad For My Friends is far from downcast, it’s an album that stays fully present in its feelings and plunges its fingers into the earth – even when it can be painful to do so. Produced by Luke Smith (Foals, Shygirl, Depeche Mode) and featuring collaborations with Cassandra Jenkins (in a full circle moment, more on this in the coming months…), Becca Mancari and Helado Negro, it retains Shura’s usual crystalline sound and precision while introducing a different kind of warmth and earthiness.
Across the last decade, Shura has achieved critical acclaim and a devoted fanbase with the brooding synth-pop of her 2016 debut, Nothing’s Real, a coming-of-age debut which captured the intensity of young heartbreak and queerness, and the aforementioned forevher (2019), which explored the euphoria of love and connection with its soulful and expansive bounce. She has performed at some of the biggest festivals in the world including Glastonbury, Primavera Sound and Coachella, sold-out historic London venues such as The Roundhouse, Koko and Kentish Town Forum and supported the likes of Tegan and Sara and M83 on tour. She’s collaborated with an esteemed and eclectic array of artists including Mura Masa, Tracey Thorn, Rosie Lowe,with remixors re-interpreting her music from Four Tet, Tourist, Warpaint, Jungle, Factory Floor, Prins Thomas and Lindstrom and Jono Ma. Shura’s global streams stand at over 200 million and her music has been used in TV phenomenons like Heartstopper and Sex Education.
The artwork for I Got Too Sad For My Friends depicts Shura sitting alone on a mountainside, dressed in a baggy jumper, ripped jeans, Converse, and various pieces of armour that fail to cover her vital organs. Part Kurt Cobain, part Leonardo DiCaprio in Romeo + Juliet. The image captures everything about the album, which documents a rocky period of sadness and isolation in pastoral terms. Its warm blend of chamber pop, sixties folk and campfire Americana builds the singer’s acutely introspective songwriting out into a vast landscape. ‘I Got Too Sad For My Friends’ reveals a candid and deeply vulnerable new chapter in Shura’s evolving artistry, stay tuned for more.
1. Tokyo
2. Leonard Street
3. Recognise
4. World’s Worst Girlfriend
5. Richardson ft. Cassandra Jenkins
6. America
7. Online
8. I Wanna Be Loved By You
9. Ringpull
10. If You Don’t Believe In Love ft. Helado Negro
11. Bad Kid ft. Becca Mancari
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