Ones To Watch: Call Me Loop can't escape heartbreak on Painkiller

We chat to the London based singer-songwriter about her first proper ballad, and why you can't experience heartbreak alone.

Call Me Loop is tired of running from her heartbreak on her emotional single, Painkiller, where she opens up in an effort to finally heal.

Her second release of the year, Painkiller serves as a sequel of sorts to Loop's bop Year of the Ex, which saw her give in to temptation and go back to a relationship that should have been abandoned. As a nice bit of pop trivia too, it's also been co-written by Hannah Robinson, whose penned Rachel Stevens' Some Girls, as well as other tracks by the likes of Lana Del Rey, Annie and Say Lou Lou.

More than anything, Painkiller is about the hangover of this, as well as being something of a special release for Georgia Buchanan - a rare ballad in a field of bangers.

"It feels a little strange I'm not gonna lie!" Loop tells us. "I've always written very honest songs about my relationships, but in the past that's meant more flings and sassy breakup songs. This time it's more real heartbreak."

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Loop also says it's no coincidence that Painkiller has followed so quickly behind Year of the Ex, seen as they "are essentially two sides of the same coin. I think a lot of people can relate to the almost split personalities you can experience when you're going through heartbreak."

But far from being a hindrance, the duality of this situation can also, weirdly, help you heal. "Each serves their purpose," she says, "in getting you through the grief."

And really, that's what Painkiller is; a much-needed but painful conversation you have to have with yourself, at a time when you really, really need an intervention.

While Loop hasn't released an EP since 2019's Drama, she promises that there are lots more surprises to come this year, with "a whole bunch of singles, one after the other, [to] re-establish me and my sound."

But the most important function of Painkiller is helping people who are perhaps going through a similar situation that they're not alone. That no matter what you think, there's a light at the end of the tunnel.

"If the songs I release this year can help some other girls and boys have a good sob," Call Me Loop says, "and then feel that little step closer to closure and happiness again, then that's heaven to me."

Painkiller is out now.