The gentle pitter-patter of a cymbal is the first thing a person hears, bringing the listener to attention. It’s not alone for long: seconds later, a beat drops, so propulsive it sounds like it’s running forward. Rosalíe’s vocals slip over it, soft and angelic. She is calm, relaxed—but there’s also an urgency there, an edge that suggests she has something to say.
So unfolds "Radiohead," a new single from the longtime New Haven (and now Brooklyn-based) artist Rosalíe. Based on the experience of falling in and out of love—and the hard aftermath of a breakup—the song invites a listener to be nostalgic and vulnerable right there with the artist. It is part of her forthcoming album, for which she has not yet released a title.
“I wanted the song to capture this moment in time that I was spending with someone, in a way that felt cinematic and honest,” she said in a phone call with the Arts Paper last week. “To tell a memory in a very kind way, the best way that I could. So that way, when you were listening, it felt like you were right in the moment with me.”
“I wanted it to feel exhilarating,” she said in the same interview. “That’s what being in love at a young age feels like.”
In many ways, the story of “Radiohead” is much older than the making of the song itself. Growing up, Rosalíe was surrounded by musicians, writers, and producers, in a household that was often filled with music. It was there, initially, that she soaked in different genres, from pop and reggae to hip hop and R&B. Her mom, who was often singing, taught her that music could be a form of storytelling.
“I was just always inspired by live music, and always been someone who felt very drawn to poetry and writing,” Rosalíe said. "There was something that felt really poetic, and really romantic. It was something that I wanted to do.”
That’s where she got the idea for the song, a nod to the eponymous band that tells the story of a relationship gone sour. For a long time—she didn’t say how long—Rosalíe was incredibly happy with her partner, so smitten it often felt sweet, dreamy. The two drove around together, listening to all genres of music. They did karaoke, including a cover of Radiohead’s “Creep” that her partner nailed.
And then, sometime last year, she realized that it wasn’t working anymore. The two drifted apart. The song, the writing for which started around last September, came out of processing that breakup.
The result is a sonic journey filled with emotion, empathy, and nostalgia. On top of a soft, steady beat, Rosalíe’s voice initially comes in gentle, but also eager. She weaves a story of the relationship, the lyrics spare yet full of feeling. She’s got a sense of momentum beneath her. Then around two minutes in, everything stops. A lone guitar strums; a beat comes back in. The percussion, particularly after the silence, makes everything feel more dramatic and compelling.
As the song deepens, she remembers moments with her former partner, including the two in the car listening to Radiohead together. She remembers her ex telling her they loved her while she had her head in their arms. She recalls writing them a song and “slow dancing on a Wednesday,” and of course being “in your car blasting Radiohead.” Some lyrics are so intangible they come out as feelings. Along the way, she bucks the traditional verse-hook-verse structure for rhythms that speed up, slow down, and take pauses.
“I wanted the song not to feel predictable,” she said. “I think, like, while lyrically it’s not the craziest song in the whole world, it’s still a story, and I want people to still feel that story through the buildup, through the instrumentation, through the vocals, through the melodies. I really wanted to not do the typical pop structure … I wanted it to kind of surprise you.”
Initially, Rosalíe said, the song felt so vulnerable that she wasn’t sure whether she wanted to release the it at all. “I didn’t feel connected to it anymore,” she said. It took roughly seven months to finish the writing, and she hesitated before making it public. Ultimately, she took a leap of faith on the piece—and is glad she did.
Now that it’s out in the world, Rosalíe said she feels proud of her work, which pushed her own sonic and lyrical boundaries. By the time she chose to put it out into the world, she had a better sense of her forthcoming album, and the way the song fits into it. For now, she said, "Radiohead" feels like an in-between place, where she is able to explore as she finds her musical way forward.
“It felt like a perfect invitation to what I want to put out next,” she said. “Falling out of love and then trying to write a song about it is hard! But it was all those things.”
Mya DeBerry is the Arts Paper's 2025 New Haven Academy (NHA) intern. The New Haven Academy internship is a program for NHA juniors that pairs them with a professional in a field that is interesting to them. From now through the end of the month, look out for her byline!