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Zara Larsson kicks open the door to her brazen new era with "Pretty Ugly"

Monday 28th April 2025

Release date: Out now Label: Black Butter

 

Today, multiplatinum chart-topping global pop powerhouse Zara Larsson kicks open the door to her brazen new era with ‘Pretty Ugly’. The electro-blasted single and its gloriously messy music video lean all the way into the idea that - as Zara sings - “sometimes a girl don’t wanna be well-behaved.”

The track arrives ahead of Zara’s fourth international album - coming later this year - and follows the news that she’ll be hitting arenas across North America in August and September on Tate McCrae’s Miss Possessive Tour. See the full itinerary below.

“Pretty Ugly” fittingly feels made to turn arena grounds into mosh pits. Low-slung electro and iconic ’90s house keys power Zara’s swaggering verses, but the chorus explodes with a confident shout-along hook over a blown-out beat: “Have you ever seen a pretty girl get ugly like this? / Messy like this? / Losing her shit?” It’s an open embrace of “bad” behavior summed up by the line, “Fuck the ladylike, more like crazy-like.”

​​The ‘Pretty Ugly’ music video, directed by Charlotte Rutherford, brings that rowdy energy to life as Zara pulls up barefoot in a retro VW to an open field full of women stretching. When she flips a switch on a huge wall of speakers, the bass blows her back and she arises in formation with the girls — but their cheer-tight choreography soon devolves into something far more fierce, feral, and mud-caked as rain pours down and chaos reigns.

‘Pretty Ugly’ is an undeniable opener to what is poised to be a huge year for Zara, who recently presented the Global Woman of the Year awards to multiple honourees at Billboard Women in Music 2025. Last year, she released her lauded album Venus — a powerful showcase of her elevated sound, eclectic style, unifying vision, and, more than ever, vulnerability. The fully realized set included highlights like ‘On My Love’ with David Guetta, ‘End of Time’, ‘Can’t Tame Her’, and ‘You Love Who You Love’, which was championed by the likes of The Guardian, GQ, The Observer, ELLE, Clash, DIY, Dork, Rolling Stone UK among many others.

Zara’s past hits have a habit of resurfacing, too. Her 2017 single ‘Symphony’ with Clean Bandit — the video for which has 1.3 billion views — was recently lifted by a wave of virality to the top of the TikTok Billboard Top 50 chart three weeks in a row. Zara discussed the phenomenon with Rolling Stone HERE. But now, with ‘Pretty Ugly’, Zara looks to the future, boldly and loudly setting off her most exciting chapter yet.

 

Craig & Scott

Release date: Out now Label: Black Butter

 

Today, multiplatinum chart-topping global pop powerhouse Zara Larsson kicks open the door to her brazen new era with ‘Pretty Ugly’. The electro-blasted single and its gloriously messy music video lean all the way into the idea that - as Zara sings - “sometimes a girl don’t wanna be well-behaved.”

The track arrives ahead of Zara’s fourth international album - coming later this year - and follows the news that she’ll be hitting arenas across North America in August and September on Tate McCrae’s Miss Possessive Tour. See the full itinerary below.

“Pretty Ugly” fittingly feels made to turn arena grounds into mosh pits. Low-slung electro and iconic ’90s house keys power Zara’s swaggering verses, but the chorus explodes with a confident shout-along hook over a blown-out beat: “Have you ever seen a pretty girl get ugly like this? / Messy like this? / Losing her shit?” It’s an open embrace of “bad” behavior summed up by the line, “Fuck the ladylike, more like crazy-like.”

​​The ‘Pretty Ugly’ music video, directed by Charlotte Rutherford, brings that rowdy energy to life as Zara pulls up barefoot in a retro VW to an open field full of women stretching. When she flips a switch on a huge wall of speakers, the bass blows her back and she arises in formation with the girls — but their cheer-tight choreography soon devolves into something far more fierce, feral, and mud-caked as rain pours down and chaos reigns.

‘Pretty Ugly’ is an undeniable opener to what is poised to be a huge year for Zara, who recently presented the Global Woman of the Year awards to multiple honourees at Billboard Women in Music 2025. Last year, she released her lauded album Venus — a powerful showcase of her elevated sound, eclectic style, unifying vision, and, more than ever, vulnerability. The fully realized set included highlights like ‘On My Love’ with David Guetta, ‘End of Time’, ‘Can’t Tame Her’, and ‘You Love Who You Love’, which was championed by the likes of The Guardian, GQ, The Observer, ELLE, Clash, DIY, Dork, Rolling Stone UK among many others.

Zara’s past hits have a habit of resurfacing, too. Her 2017 single ‘Symphony’ with Clean Bandit — the video for which has 1.3 billion views — was recently lifted by a wave of virality to the top of the TikTok Billboard Top 50 chart three weeks in a row. Zara discussed the phenomenon with Rolling Stone HERE. But now, with ‘Pretty Ugly’, Zara looks to the future, boldly and loudly setting off her most exciting chapter yet 

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