If pop has room for another troublemaker, Queenie has arrived wearing false eyelashes, go-go boots and a grin sharp enough to cut glass. The Australian artist returns with new single Pearl Necklaces, a tongue-in-cheek dismantling of toxic masculinity and dating culture.
It also signals a new chapter. Having once been boxed into country-adjacent expectations, Queenie swerves hard left here into a hazy blend of alt-pop, where swagger meets satire and camp meets confession.
‘Pearl Necklaces’ lands with real bite. The song pokes at the way society excuses poor male behaviour, while also taking aim at the convenient shrug of “God’s will” used to justify all manner of nonsense. She describes the track as beginning life on a bargain-bin nylon string guitar before being recorded in an old church in Mollongghip. Fittingly, it sounds both reverent and rebellious.
Musically, Queenie remains difficult in the best possible way to categorise. There are flashes of Joan Jett’s grit, the theatrical force of Florence Welch, the artful instincts of Kate Bush and the sly pop nous of CMAT. Yet none of those references quite contain her. Queenie’s real gift is making humour, power and vulnerability share the same room.
The accompanying video, shot entirely on Super 8 film, leans fully into that spirit. A full-colour fever dream with vintage glamour and unhinged elegance, it feels like Valley of the Dolls after one too many martinis.
Raised in Lutruwita/Tasmania and now based in Naarm/Melbourne, Queenie has already built serious momentum. Debut album New Moult cracked the ARIA Top 20, while ‘Not Divine’ was shortlisted for APRA Song of the Year. She has also shared stages from Panama Festival to Party in the Paddock.
Stream Pearl Necklaces HERE.
