By Josh Schonfeld

Finally, it’s tropical pop done right. America has had to endure an onslaught of “trop-pop” in the recent months that includes “Cold Water,” “Don’t Wanna Know,” and most recently, “Run Up,” to finally get a winner in Rhys’s “Last Dance.” Released today, Rhys is a virtually unknown Swedish singer who just dropped a heartbreaking dance ballad that makes you feel as though you’re dancing with tears in your eyes on a white sand beach.

“Last Dance” describes a failed relationship that had every opportunity to thrive, but ultimately was not meant to be. While the instrumentation is upbeat, the lyrics are anything but. Rhys doesn’t sugarcoat it when she states, “I’ll stay away from daylight and hardly eat at all.” It’s refreshing to hear a pop song that delves into the realities of a breakup without being a morose dirge or a superficial “middle finger in the air” anthem. Rhys allows the listener to let out their frustrations while also looking towards the future.

Don’t worry though, she still brings the heat with the chorus. It’s not often that an expletive actually elevates a track, but the “goddamn” in the chorus creates an emotional climax. It comes after Rhys describes her hope for the future, which shows that while she understands it will get better, she’s still bitter about the sudden end of this relationship. It also provides a hard break for the drop to come in, which is always pleasing to the ear.

If this is what Rhys can come up with for a debut single, then it looks like we’re witnessing the birth of a new pop diva and it couldn’t have come at a better time. We’ve got our first big new artist of 2017!