Laurel Smith, a North London-based alt-pop artist, has revealed her new single, ‘snow queen’. It’s a truly cinematic track that finds its place between hip-hop and ultra-modern electronic pop, with her shimmering auto-tuned vocal slipping into gaps between crisp, trappy hip-hats and twisting koto loops. “The whole song is painting a picture for the listener, the icy pads and mellowed out Koto plucks set the scene of a girl who lives at the top of a snowy mountain; surrounded by riches, but never content,” she explains of the track’s lyrical theme. “She was granted a wish to get everything she ever wanted by a higher power, who now laughs at her naivety from above. In its metaphorical sense, snow queen shows that true happiness comes from within, which is something I think I was beginning to properly understand at the time I wrote the song.” Keep an eye out for more from Laurel Smith in 2025. -Dan Peeke