Listen to Porter Robinson’s explosive new single ‘Cheerleader’

Porter Robinson has shared the explosive new single ‘Cheerleader’ – check it out below.

• READ MORE: Porter Robinson: “I felt convinced that I wouldn’t be able to ever make music again”
  

The single marks the first solo release from Robinson since he dropped his last full-length LP ‘Nurture’ back in 2021. In the time since, he turned his efforts to collaborative projects – joining forces with League of Legends, Skrillex and Bibi Bourely.

Now, with the new track Robinson wipes the slate clean and launches into a new era – building up to an explosive, high-energy chorus, In the lyrics, the singer-songwriter explores the complex relationship between musicians and their fans.

“She’s got hearts in her eyes/ Saying, ‘Boy, you better watch the time
‘Cause if you’re not mine I’d rather see you burned alive,’” he sings in the verse.

The track also comes alongside a music video, directed by Hugh Mulhern and creative-directed by Bradley & Pablo (Harry Styles, Dua Lipa, Rosalía), which sees Robinson become enmeshed in a virtual reality.

“When I got back in the studio for ‘Cheerleader’, I asked: what would be something that people could love with zero context — just instantaneous, universal, explosive connection,” Robinson said, explaining the motivation behind his first new single in two years. “’Cheerleader’ is my take on bottling that feeling.”

Back in 2021, following the release of his last studio LP ‘Nurture’, Robinson sat down with NME and explained how writing the album gave him a refreshed perspective on life and music, having overcome a period of depression.

With the project, he said he wanted it to feel “intimate and up-close, that you could touch it, but also emotional and beautiful”. Compared to his 2014 debut ‘Worlds’ which was more about “escaping to faraway dreamlands, these video-game like universes.” “[It’s about] finding the beauty in everyday and reality as it is; that’s why the tagline of the album is ‘everything we need is already here’.”

“I knew that I wanted this record to have a less dance-y sound and I think the biggest way that manifests is that most of the songs, regardless of how produced or the instrumentation, they don’t really have drops,” he explained.

“Instead, they have these vocally-driven choruses, and learning to write them was something that took some years to do. Going from producing so much instrumental and just drop-driven music, it’s not as easy as you might think.”

The post Listen to Porter Robinson’s explosive new single ‘Cheerleader’ appeared first on NME.