Neska Rose's new single "Bubbling!" is where it all just finally starts to click: the brass pops off, the cheeky ad-lib fizzes, and suddenly you find yourself dancing awkwardly through years of emotions. At 19, this Los Angeles singer-songwriter-producer has crafted something that sounds timeless and utterly of the moment: a neon-lit swirl of funk-pop/neo-soul that's as smart as it is sticky.
"Bubbling!" is a love song for the socially anxious and an anthem for anyone who has ever wanted to jump into the hot tub but wound up hanging awkwardly on the edge. That pushing and pulling of wanting to engage and feeling too strange actually to show up? Neska cloaks that feeling in jazzy horns, elastic basslines, and a never-ending groove.
"Bubbling!" borrows its '90s influences, including Prince and a disco-chic mall-band energy reminiscent of the era of late-night infomercials, as well as Beck in his folk crooner days, Amy Winehouse, and Lily Allen, in ways that are close to caricature. Neska's voice, cool as a cucumber, is disarming: grounded, a little mischievous, and well-suited to this kind of genre-blurring, left-of-center pop.
The accompanying music video, co-directed by Neska and her parents, shot by her mom, and edited by her stepdad, is like flipping through a dusty VHS of old-school MTV. At a time of slick, over-produced imagery, this homegrown approach comes full circle with the song's fragile message. Neska Rose isn't only creating music, she's constructing an entire universe. And "Bubbling!" is our in-very fun, very funky invitation. For alt-pop fans, funk-pop fans, or just for anyone who still rewatches '90s music videos in a fit of longing to feel something, this one's for you.
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