The pop singer will release her fifth studio album later this year
Zara Larsson gets glammed up to get down and dirty in the music video for her latest single “Pretty Ugly.” The pop musician cruises into frame in an old beat up Volkswagen, eyes smoldering in the rearview mirror reflection. When she steps out, it’s not in heels ready to hit the dance floor — but barefoot and ready to rumble.
The Charlotte Rutherford-directed visual drops Larsson into a muddy field with a gang of girls who throw her up into basket tosses and more cheer-inspired moves crafted by choreographer Zoi Tatopoulos. “Have you ever seen a pretty girl get ugly like this?/Messy like this?/Losing her shit?” she asks on the chorus. “Everybody’s tellin’ me to sit there really pretty/But I’m feelin’ like I wanna cause some trouble in the city tonight/Fuck the ladylike, more like crazy-like/Flippin’ tables at the bar, turn the beat up, make it hard/Wanna take it too far, ain’t afraid of night/Fuck the ladylike, more like crazy-like.”
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“Pretty Ugly” will appear on Larsson’s forthcoming fifth studio album, due this year. She teased the single with an Instagram profile picture change and a clever Coachella billboard reading, “Weekend One If You’re Pretty, Weeknd Two If You’re Ugly.” Larsson’s most recent full-length Venus was released just over a year ago. In August, she will kick off a run of arena shows supporting Tate McRae on the So Close to What tour.
With “Pretty Ugly,” Larsson pairs blowout pop production with some food for thought. Last year, she told British GQ: “I have so many things to say about how women are being portrayed and judged because they’re not pretty enough, and then when they go and fix something on their face, they’re picked on even more.” Her latest work appears not to be an attempt to harness the power of girl boss feminism, but an expression of how good it can feel to let go and deal with the messy consequences later.
