We Speak Music
Sohodolls turn up their pop side ‘Napoleon Baby’
New Sohodolls single ‘Napoleon Baby’ was recorded in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. It’s a pounding slow-disco floor-filler that makes you want to dance – it’s definitely the most pop song on the band’s upcoming new album and the most pop-sounding song Sohodolls has ever made.
Inspired by Eurythmics’ ‘Sweet Dreams’, Kate Bush’s ‘Running up that Hill’, Girls Aloud’s ’No Good Advice’ (Sohodolls’ Maya Von Doll has written for both Nadine Coyle and Nicola Roberts) and Donna Summers’ ‘I Feel Love’, the Otabek Salamov (aka Needshes) produced track sees Sohodolls unleash a pop side that has been bubbling away in the background of their recent singles, but now comes fully to the forefront.
“The song is about the pursuit of ambition at all costs.” says Maya von Doll. “I talk about what pursuing a music career has cost me – friendships, relationships and even the loss of better financial opportunities”, she explains.
“I wanted to write and be successful above all else. I swore I’d never give up. But never giving up can mean subjecting yourself to more bruising and more humiliation. This song is a reflection on that irrational wiring. That’s why I linked the track to ‘Napoleon’ because there’s been a historic suggestion (whether true or not) that his ambition and drive was born out of an inferiority complex. So, in the song I’m imagining success and I’m imagining thanking my inferiority complex for the art I’ve created”, she reveals.
The result is a catchy, bass loaded, electro-pop anthem for wrestling all distractions and negative voices to the ground and continuing to rise in creativity.
Complete with a French spoken outro and some retro sounding synths by Robert Harder, who produced Sohodolls 00’s hits ‘Bang Bang Bang Bang’ and ‘Stripper’, the track is a departure from Sohodolls’ recent singles like alt-rock track ‘Bad’ which recently featured in Netflix’s top 10 series ‘Geek Girl’. An exciting twist, the track is brimming with the band’s trademark catchy hooks and seductive attitude, but ventures into different territories and is set to take both old and new fans on an odyssey through the 80s, 00s, back to 2024 and beyond!
We Speak Music
Ross Learmonth’s ‘Opposites’ Is a Catchy Love Letter to the Beautiful Mess of Relationships
If you’ve ever fallen for someone totally different from you—and somehow it just works—then Ross Learmonth’s new single “Opposites” will hit you right in the feels. The Johannesburg-born artist, best known as the former frontman of Prime Circle, is in full solo stride, and this latest release is as catchy as it is heartfelt.
“Opposites” has that special kind of spark: it’s playful, emotional, and seriously addictive. Think Hozier meets Imagine Dragons, with a touch of that raw storytelling vibe that makes Jeremy Loops and Matthew Mole so beloved. It’s easy to sing along to, but the lyrics will sneak up on you and make you think.
Inspired by his parents’ love story and his own romantic rollercoasters, Ross dives into the complexities of how different personalities can actually bring out the best (and sometimes worst) in each other. “It’s not always the case, but sometimes, opposites attract—and it’s magical,” he says. Honestly? Relatable.
The way the track came together is also kinda beautiful. Ross describes the song like it was just floating in the air, waiting to be caught. “It was in the room, and it wanted to be written,” he says, crediting his engineer Mark Beiling for helping him lock it down in the moment. Shoutout to the dream team, Rusti Rossouw and Tristan Carmichael (working from the UK!), who helped polish this one into the radio hit it’s becoming.
Speaking of which, “Opposites” has already been charting across some of South Africa’s top stations and made it onto big Apple Music playlists. And if you’ve been lucky enough to catch Ross live lately—maybe at Kirstenbosch or even opening for The Goo Goo Dolls (yes, those Goo Goo Dolls!)—you’ll know just how electric this track feels on stage.
Ross has a string of live dates this April and May, with a stop in Cyprus later this year (big moves!). And there’s more to come: a moodier single is dropping in May, followed by a full album either later this year or early next.
For now, though, “Opposites” is the perfect reminder that love is weird, wild, and worth it—even if it doesn’t make perfect sense on paper.
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