Anne-Marie’s most rebellious track is here and it’s exploding in the minds of fans (wait a second while I try to gather my brains together again). Okay, I’m back. What was I saying? Oh yes, Anne-Marie’s “UNHEALTHY” is giving us the ultimate “girl doesn’t care” vibes and we’re loving it. I know, I am.
She’s not only rebellious in the song’s lyrics, but the country-leaning pop song sees her exploring new waters genre-wise. Recruiting her longtime fave Shania Twain, who just made a grand return with her first studio album, Queen of Me, in over six years, for the song, we hear the two taking turns to sing about what they’d do to preserve a relationship, regardless of whether it’s toxic or not. Think Taylor Swift’s “Ours” but with more zest and attitude.
“Well, your love is worse, worse than cigarettes / Even if I had twenty in my hands / Oh, babe, your touch, it hurts more than hangovers / No, that bottle don’t hold the same regret,” Anne-Marie sings in the opening verse about being addicted to a lover, that if she were right in front of you, you might be tempted to tell her to have a bit of self-control. However, you definitely shouldn’t bother trying to reason with her, because if she won’t listen to mama and papa, who the hell are you?
“And my mother says that you’re bad for me / Guess she never felt the high we’re on right now / And my father says I should run away / But he don’t know that I just don’t know how,” she sings in the pre-chorus.
The chorus tells us that no one can stop her from loving her man, even if that love kills her.
Twain’s verse speaks of the same unhealthy pull, as she sings, “Oh, this body high gives me sleepless nights / It’s a million times what any drug could give / And my red eyes, they hold twice as right / It might look like pain, but to me, it’s bliss.” Is it toxic season yet?
To promote the track, Anne-Marie performed it live on BBC’s The One Show hours after the song dropped. The English global superstar also chatted about the making of the song on the program.
“UNHEALTHY” follows 2022’s “Psycho” featuring Aitch and “SAD B!TCH.” Written by Anne-Marie, Conor McDonough, Riley McDonough, and Castle, “UNHEALTHY” is the ninth song and title track off of Anne-Marie’s third studio album – out July 28.
The song is accompanied by a visualizer that sees Anne-Marie having a blast with a ketchup bottle, and redesigning her room, and her clothes, with a sticky red liquid.