News

Grimes has set her eyes on the future of pop music: Adéla. On Friday, the Slovakian pop star — who was discovered as a contestant on Netflix’s Dream Academy last year — released the video for her single “Machine Girl,” featuring a cameo from Grimes.

The Mitch Dequilettes-directed video sees Adéla in an intense dance sequence with High School Musical: The Musical: The Series actress Sofia Wylie, before the dance battle turns into a physical altercation. “Mean girl mean girl/What’s that even mean girl?” sings Adéla while fighting Wylie.

Director Mitch deQuilettes is becoming somewhat of a welcome regular here on Directors Notes having previously impressed us with his duo of satirical shorts Staff Pick and Hill Hikers. Both films see the director heighten his characters’ backgrounds and true natures thus exposing their most undesirable angles, and his latest short Cowards is no different. deQuilettes takes another well-aimed swipe at the industry in which he himself is so entrenched with Cowards seeing the filmmaker honing in on the self-obsession of his protagonist, employing his own brand of wit and style whilst also making a valid commentary on the current zillennial archetype. We had the pleasure of catching up with deQuillettes ahead of Cowards’ premiere on Dn today and spoke to him about working closely with Writer Ava Hase, who also stars in the short, in order to achieve the film’s effective balance of drama heightened comedy and why...

Daya is processing the feelings of loss following the end of a relationship and learns to be on her own in the new song, “Love You When You’re Gone.” The earworm, which marks Daya’s first release this year, features a nostalgia-inducing, retro-pop feel and an Eighties beat.

“I only love you when you’re gone/Lonely hearts just don’t belong,” she sings on the track. “The way you fight, the way you drive reminds me/I can’t stand you I just/Love you when you’re gone.