Rebecca Black is back with another dose of playful, provocative pop with her new single “Michael,” accompanied by a brand-new music video released August 7. The track is the latest taste of her upcoming album, Age of the Exhibitionist, due September 4.
“Michael” plays with the deliciously messy idea of wanting someone who is already attached — and believing that maybe, just maybe, you could give them something they aren't getting at home. But the inspiration behind the song makes it even more fun. Black recently revealed that the idea emerged from a conversation about Lady Gaga’s fiancé, Michael Polansky. Black stressed that the song isn't literally about Polansky; instead, talking about his relationship with Gaga sparked the fictional scenario and suddenly, as Black put it, Michael “became the moment.”
The newly released video leans into Black’s increasingly confident pop persona, using relatively simple staging to keep the focus squarely on her performance, attitude and the song’s flirtatious energy. It’s another reminder of just how dramatically Rebecca Black has reinvented herself since the viral days of “Friday.” Rather than running away from pop culture, she now seems perfectly happy to play with it — twisting internet conversation, celebrity fascination and a little fantasy into her own brand of glossy, cheeky pop.
With Age of the Exhibitionist arriving September 4, “Michael” offers another glimpse at an artist who has become far more fearless, self-aware and delightfully unpredictable.
