King Princess will release a new full-length, titled Hold On Baby, later this year — and to mark the announcement, the singer has dropped “For My Friends,” an ebullient, hook-laden pop ballad slated to appear on the album. The single follows “Little Bother,” a collaboration with Fousheé released earlier this year.
The project of 23-year-old songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Mikaela Straus, King Princess first gained acclaim for her 2018 queer anthem, “1950.” Hold On Baby marks the follow-up to the critically acclaimed 2019 debut album, Cheap Queen.
Driven by pulsating synth arpeggios and Straus’ delicate, airy vocals, “For My Friends” is an emotive expansion of the finely tuned maximalist pop that’s become the New York-native’s signature. “You hate it, but loving me takes patience/So we lose touch when I’m faded,” she sings on the track. “And it can get dark but still, I know/You’re waiting/Loving me takes patience.”
The single was inspired by Straus’ relationship with her close friends, Cicely and Chloe. “I thought it would be extra fab to begin releasing this new record with a song about my two best friends from high school,” she said in a release. “These girls have been through the pits with me, and the more time I spend with them as an adult, the more I’m reminded that they are my home. So thank you my angel horse queens for sticking with me. I love you all and I can’t wait to give you this song.”
“For my Friends” is accompanied by a video directed by Nick Harwood, which finds Straus and two pals prepping for a night out in New York City that, like so many reckless evenings do, quickly devolves into chaos — drunken fights, raucous laughter in the streets, holding a friend’s hair back as she pukes her brains out, facing a hangover the following morning. Despite the drama, the video is an honest — if not somewhat sentimental — portrait of the highs and lows of friendships in young adulthood.
King Princess will embark on an expansive U.S. tour in support of Hold On Baby this summer, with stops scheduled at Radio City Music Hall in New York City and the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles.
King Princess Tour Dates
July 5 – Vancouver, BC @ Queen Elizabeth Theatre
July 6 – Seattle, WA @ Paramount Theatre
July 8 – Forest Grove, OR @ Grand Lodge
July 9 – Boise, ID @ Revolution
July 12 – Denver, CO @ Mission Ballroom
July 13 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Union Event Center
July 15 – Berkeley, CA @ The Greek Theatre
July 16 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Greek Theatre
July 18 – San Diego, CA @ SOMA
July 19 – Phoenix, AZ @ Van Buren
July 21 – Austin, TX @ Stubb’s Amphitheater
July 22 – Houston, TX @ House of Blues
July 23 – Dallas, TX @ House of Blues
July 25 – Kansas City, MO @ Arvest Bank Theatre at The Midland
July 26 – St. Louis, MO @ The Factory at The District
September 28 – Charlotte, NC @ The Fillmore
September 30 – Philadelphia, PA @ The Fillmore
October 3 – New York, NY @ Radio City Music Hall
October 5 – Boston, MA @ Roadrunner
October 6 – Portland, ME @ State Theatre
October 8 – Toronto, ON @ HISTORY
October 9 – Detroit, MI @ The Fillmore
October 11 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Stage AE
October 12 – Cleveland, OH @ Agora Theatre
October 14 – Madison, WI @ The Sylvee
October 15 – St. Paul, MN @ Palace Theatre