A couple years ago, the Minneapolis musician ZORA released her debut album, and it landed her on our Best New Bands Of 2022 list. She’s put out a couple singles since then, including “The Bitch Is Back (press)” and “Fastlane,” and today she’s back with another one, “Hush,” which she said is “a toxic love story about a guy who didn’t want to be seen with me in public.” A line from it: “I know we shouldn’t probably take this no further, but you beat the pussy up like no other.”

“In all honesty, this song is really abstractly written about several guys that I’ve entertained, and the hurt that comes with a love that chooses to be hidden,” ZORA said, continuing:

Regarding the production of this song, I knew that I wanted the song to sound like I sampled an old ’80s R&B song, and took that and flipped it to sound more Top 40 and modern, with 808s, hi-hats, and the whole shebang. Basically, I started by recording a fake ’80s-sounding song using my guitar, my piano plug-in stock synths, and a really shitty mic. I then recorded that into Logic, and made it sound super ’80s and funky and distorted. Then, I turned that whole file into a sample that I pitched up and looped. After that, I added in my bass and snare and everything. It was definitely one of the most fun projects I’ve ever worked on. A huge recurring theme of the production all along [my next album], ‘Z2,’ will be using self-made samples.

Listen below.

“Hush” is out now via Get Better Records.