Clean Bandit Release New Single ‘Sad Girls’: Watch
Clean Bandit have been joined by French The Kid and Rema on their new single, Sad Girls, out now.
The trio said in a statement: “We met French The Kid last year, after falling in love with his song Thrill, and we were honoured that he recorded a verse for our Drive remix. After that, he came to our studio and we made two songs from scratch, one of them is Sad Girls.
“Rema is one of our favourite artists in the world, so we were again honoured when during a recent 24-hour stopover in London he spent a night with us in the studio. He wrote his verse for Sad Girls at about five in the morning towards the end of the session. We were so tired but he was totally energetic, and witnessing his creative process was one of the best experiences we’ve had in the band’s history.
“The meeting of musical styles contained in this song is exactly what we strive for and have always strived for since the beginning of Clean Bandit – the weaving of unexpected sound worlds in organic moments, creating songs that we love.”
It marks the latest in a series of recent collaborations from Clean Bandit, who in the last 18 months have worked with iann dior, 24kGoldn, Backroad Gee and Ayo Beatz. For Rema, meanwhile, it provides one of the biggest opportunities yet for his genre-fluid, experimental style, hot on the heels of the release back in March of the Nigerian’s debut full-length, Rave and Roses, which saw guest turns from 6lack, AJ Tracey and Yseult.
Rema recently spoke to Rolling Stone UK about bringing African culture to audiences around the world. “It’s a blessing. And never will I ever carry that competitive mindset. All we’re here to do is take our culture and spread it to the world and attract people back to their roots. I’m grateful and I’m really proud of what the legends have done before me, and I’m graced by the fact that I’m also creating a fine ground for the next generation after me.”