Addison Rae‘s Chaotic New Video Is the Only Logical Next Step in Her…

In the lead-up to her studio debut, Addison, releasing next Friday, June 6, Addison Rae dropped a new single and video, “Fame Is a Gun.” It’s another banger in a stacked lineup—a pop confection tailor-made for summer dance floors.

The video gives more insight into what we can expect from the album. Rae dons a platinum-blonde wig and wobbles around in stilettos and a pink vinyl coat as she fights herself. There’s a glutinous, smoky dinner scene. And there is, however improbably, a turtle who gives a compelling performance.

What’s made the Rae rollout so exciting is that it’s pretty fucking weird, even in a pop landscape in which the girlies are embracing their individuality and expanding the very idea of the Pop Girl. It started to take shape nine months ago, when Rae released “Diet Pepsi,” a gimlet-eyed bedroom pop song with a black-and-white video directed by Sean Price Williams. Rae dances around in a ’50s-style beaded bikini with an American flag and does a lot of foot stuff—just the beginning of the bold aesthetic choices that would color the release.

Rae’s subsequent releases—which saw her collaborate with Interview’s Mel Ottenberg, creative director Lexee Smith, and stylist Dara Allen—carried the same surreal vibe. “Aquamarine” is a bejeweled fever dream of dancing in Paris, giving vague Eyes Wide Shut nods. “High Fashion” and “Headphones On,” both directed by Mitch Ryan, keep the strangeness alive. The latter, shot in Iceland, feels like a Bjork tribute, with Rae wearing a hot-pink wig as she rides a white horse by a cliff while listening to her favorite song on wired headphones, cementing their it-girl status. You can’t help but sway to it.

The bizarro vibes of “Fame Is a Gun” set off the final countdown to Rae’s debut—a possible, dare I say it, Album of the Summer contender.

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