Wait a minute. New era loading. Willow is back, and she’s stepping on necks on the way. The 20-year-old music-industry vet just dropped a guitar-heavy collaboration with Blink-182’s Travis Barker, “t r a n s p a r e n t s o u l.†It’s the first single from her follow-up to 2019’s Willow, out this summer. “I am so grateful for this tune because it was created in such an introspective time (during the first couple months of quarantine),†she says in a release. “It was the song that proved to me that I needed to let go of the insecurities I had about making a project of this genre.†We spot zero insecurities in the accompanying music video, a visual mind-bender as Willow — so sorry — whips her hair around and flips off the camera. Shredding on the guitar, she radiates power. In a new interview with Zane Lowe on Apple Music, Willow talks about finding her confidence mixing genres, partially inspired by her mom’s 2000s nu metal band, Wicked Wisdom. “So in my mind, it’s like all the colors of the rainbow are available to me starting with this …†she says. “Actually not even starting with this project, but because this project was a fear point for me, I felt like I needed to experience that in order to just grow more of what I love about myself, which is the variety.â€
