King Princess Announces New Album, Shares “RIP KP”

Today, King Princess has shared the news of her long-awaited third full-length LP, Girl Violence, out September 12. Alongside the announcement comes lead single “RIP KP,” a sauntering, seductive track that sees Mikaela Straus, one of Paste’s 20 Best New Artists of 2019, more brash and confident than ever, returning with a vengeance. Girl Violence, Straus’ first release with section1 and follow-up to 2022’s Hold On Baby, was born out of years of change: a new label, a cross-country move that doubled as a return home, a breakup. It’s Straus reclaiming her agency, reevaluating her life, and moving forward with a newfound freedom.

And for Straus, “RIP KP” was the perfect introduction to this autonomy, this return to self. In a press release, Straus shared that the track shows off “the sexy side of girl violence,” written “during a full ego death—leaving LA, my label, my old life—and somehow landing back in NYC making the music I would’ve obsessed over at 15.” The song flaunts an addictive beat with a circus-y hook that glides over vocals about a girl who could destroy your life. For as big as the song gets, breaking into a gritty, metal-adjacent wall of distortion by the end, the moments of restraint are the most enticing. Straus’s vocals on the second verse are crisp, evoking that same haunting tone found across Cheap Queen. The “RIP KP” music video finds King Princess dropped off at a strip club purgatory for the super-gay. It goes full camp, mixing bush puppets, quirky animation, and low-budget horror tropes into a perfect storm of sexy and unsettling.

Watch the music video for “RIP KP” and check out the Girl Violence artwork and tracklist below.