“I just wanna feel, feel on something / Without that extra agenda of love…”
U up? Claudia Valentina is #looking for fun.
You might remember the 21-year-old singer-songwriter from the top of last year as one of the MuuMuse Acts to Watch™ of 2021 – specifically for “4:15” and her self-titled EP.
And if you’re a Little Maxxinista/Avatar/Aviator, you’re already intimately familiar with her work: she’s a co-writer on Ava Max and Tiesto‘s “The Motto.” Mmmhmm. Pretty legendary, if you ask me.
As of Friday (March 25), she’s returned to us with “Extra Agenda,” a fiercely assured, immediately catchy, moody, endlessly replay-friendly pop ode to shutting up and getting off without the fuss of feelings and the mess of emotions.
The track premiered as a First Play on Clara Amfo’s BBC Radio 1 Future Sounds show, and rightfully deserved the shine. The song was recorded with longtime Dua Lipa collaborator Stephen “KOZ” Kozmeniuk and Trey Campbell – which makes sense, as sonically, it’s very much in the world of Miss Peep, Zara Larsson and Mabel.
It was written in between travels to London, Los Angeles and Guernsey (chic), and finds our rising pop heroine pushing back on the expectations for women.
“’Extra Agenda’ for me such a high energy moment,” she says.
“The song is basically about flipping the script and letting me as a girl have no shame in my game of not wanting any strings attached when I wanna have fun. It embraces love in every way and it doesn’t have to be that deep sometimes. It’s got a kinda weekend vibe to it and the baseline gets me every time.”
We love an empowered young woman who knows exactly what she wants, and the confidence packed into the track is a delight. The way she delivers the line “I ain’t call you here to conversate / Shut the fuck up, give my mind a break” is especially gratifying. Also, let’s hear it for a proper 3:40 song length – with a bridge, complete with a proper belt of a final chorus. Now that’s more like it.
There’s an accompanying music video too, which includes some “New Rules”-style sleepover choreography with the girls, as well as some seductive shape-pulling in puffy jackets, bras and jeans. There’s also a bit of convenience store chaos with her clique – a Main Pop Girl staple.
She’s still so young and has only just begun having her fun (yeah), but if this track sticks and the songwriting output continues to be this great, something tells me she’s going to be around for quite a while.
