Demi Lovato came out swinging with their newest song and music video. “Substance,” the second single off the 29-year-old singer-songwriter’s eighth studio album, Holy Fvck, dropped Friday (July 15) alongside a video that feels just as angry as the song sounds — perfectly paving the way for Lovato’s fresh new era as a bona fide punk rocker.
As she wails over full-throttle drums and guitars lifted straight from late ’90s/early 2000s emo rock hits, the video finds Lovato smashing a glass gold record plaque with a baseball bat, falling purposefully out the window of a skyscraper conference room and spray painting “Holy Fvck” onto a wall.
“So I ask myself: Am I the only one looking for substance?” they sing. “Got high, it only left me lonely and loveless/ Don’t wanna end up in a casket/ head full of maggots, body full of jack s–t/ I get an abundance/ Am I the only one looking for substance?”
The new single arrives just one day after the Grammy nominee unveiled the full tracklist for Holy Fvck. In addition to “Substance” and lead single “Skin of My Teeth,” which Lovato released in June, the Aug. 19-slated album includes 14 other tracks featuring collaborations with YungBlud, Royal & The Serpent, and Dead Sara.
Lovato has been in the process of launching an edgy new musical style since January, when she held a metaphorical funeral for the seven albums worth of pop music the “Cool For The Summer” singer made leading up to Holy Fvck. They’ve been steadily teasing bits and pieces of songs on the upcoming album on social media, and recently said in a statement: “Never have I been more sure of myself and my music, and this record speaks that for itself.”
“To my Lovatics who have been rocking out with me since the beginning and those who are just now coming along for the ride, thank you,” they continued. “This record is for you.”
Stream Lovato’s new single “Substance” and watch the video below.
