We Speak Music

Minna Ora’s New Single Asks What’s Still Solid In A World That Won’t Stop Changing

Published

2 months ago

July 24, 2026

Emily

Minna Ora dropped her seventh single and it’s called “Rock,” which is fitting because that’s exactly what it sounds like someone could lean on.

The opening line says it all: “I will stand right beside you just like a rock.” Simple words, but they land heavier than you’d think once the song gets going. Thick bass, drums that make your foot move without asking permission, guitar riffs cutting in sharp enough to grab your attention and hold it. It’s got weight to it.

What got me thinking was the question buried under all that sound: what’s actually solid anymore? Everything around us keeps shifting, so what do you hold onto?

Turns out the song is written like a parent talking to their kid right before they leave home for good. That moment we all hit eventually, standing at the edge of something new, wanting someone to tell us it’ll be fine. Some people had that voice in their corner. Others didn’t.

But Minna flips it too. It’s also her thanking her own parent, for staying steady, for showing up when it counted. Strip it all back and the message is basically: chase what makes you happy, take care of yourself, but know your limits.

The video pulls in Finnish actresses Outi Mäenpää and Ella Valanne and sets the whole thing in a time before phones and constant noise, back when people actually needed each other to get by. And maybe that’s the point. Technology changed, life sped up, but what people need from each other hasn’t moved an inch. Somewhere to belong. Someone to show up. Something worth passing down.

“Rock” doesn’t try to be complicated. It just reminds you that some things are supposed to stay put.

You can listen here.

Related Topics:Minna Minna Ora New new music Ora rock

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We Speak Music

Phoebe June Traces Love, Distance and Heartbreak on New EP ‘Kiss Me Over The Garden Gate’

Published

2 days ago

September 11, 2026

Joni Jones

For Phoebe June, some stories are easier to tell through music.

Her new EP, ‘Kiss Me Over The Garden Gate’, is an intimate collection that traces the emotional journey of a relationship from the exhilaration of falling in love to distance, uncertainty, heartbreak and, ultimately, learning to let go.

Inspired by artists including Gracie Abrams, Taylor Swift and Phoebe Bridgers, Phoebe June combines diary-like lyricism with melancholic ballads, subtle uptempo moments and an understated, emotionally honest production style.

At the centre of the project is ‘Thursday’, a bittersweet track about loving someone from a distance and holding onto the hope that the connection might survive.

Written after Phoebe left a country that held deep personal meaning, and left someone she cared about behind, the song looks back at the relationship from its beginning. Even its title is personal: the two first met on a Thursday.

The song captures the complicated feeling of walking away from something meaningful without believing that it necessarily has to be over. It’s about distance, memory and the possibility of finding your way back to someone, while recognising that hope only works when it goes both ways.

Across six tracks, the EP develops that story in sequence.

‘Everything You Are’ opens the project with the warmth of new love, while ‘Dead Sea’ explores the security of finding someone who helps you stay afloat through difficult times. As the story progresses, ‘Thursday’ introduces separation before ‘Getaway Car’ moves into the aftermath; unanswered questions, lingering attachment and the realisation that someone can profoundly affect your life while still being unhealthy for you.

‘One Day’ leaves the door open to the possibility of a future reunion, balancing hope with the understanding that some relationships may only exist in memory.

The EP closes with ‘Ophelia’, its emotional breaking point. Inspired in part by Friedrich Heyser’s painting of the same name, the track confronts the pain of feeling manipulated and unappreciated after giving everything to someone else.

The result is a project that deliberately moves from light to dark. Phoebe June considered not only the narrative but the emotional progression when sequencing the EP, allowing the brightness of its opening to gradually give way to the heartbreak of its closing moments.

Even the title reflects that feeling.

‘Kiss Me Over The Garden Gate’ takes its name from a flower, with the image of a gate separating two people becoming a metaphor for a love that remains beautiful but just out of reach. To reach over it requires effort, just as maintaining a connection across distance, uncertainty and changing circumstances does.

Ultimately, Phoebe June isn’t interested in simply documenting her own heartbreak.

She wants listeners to recognise themselves in it.

‘Kiss Me Over The Garden Gate’ is a collection about love, nostalgia, hope and regret and about what remains when something beautiful ends up on the other side of the gate.