“Heels”

Sir Babygirl is a singer/producer from New Hampshire who uses bubblegum pop to imagine a future “free of genre boundary and the gender binary.” Her debut single, “Heels,” is a step towards that vision. The track takes the blueprint of an early 2000s pop song—a bouncing beat, propulsive vocals, wilting romance— and uses it to build an anthem about queer dating. “I’m running home with my heels on my head/And everything, every everything that you said,” she croons in a high, clear voice. But the track becomes more frantic as it progresses, with layered vocals and a beat that keeps building. It’s both a masterclass in pop songwriting and a dismantling of it, and what started as a cookie-cutter pop song transforms into something entirely new. Her wails swell over synths; the drums pound faster, and the once-calm track becomes a cacophony. By the song’s end, Sir Babygirl has made her way home, leaving behind the last echo of synths and the ghost of a drumline. The future doesn’t sound so bad.