Grammy-nominated artist K.Flay’s latest single “TGIF” featuring Tom Morello proves she exists beyond the limitations of genre. The song is the most recent release to come from her upcoming EP, Inside Voices, set to drop June 11 via BMG.
“TGIF” continues the artist’s signature blend of rock and hip-hop, which seems to resonate with the Rage Against The Machine guitarist. The track starts with a taunting riff and immediately dives into the complacency associated with American work culture and the forces behind it.
Intermingled throughout are pedal-heavy guitar riffs and frustrated lyrics such as, “Amazon boxes looking like coffins/I’m exhausted, but I ain’t dead yet/Life’s a dog, right?/Baby, come and place your bet.” Like most songs from Morello as well as K.Flay, the chorus is as aggressive as it is painfully catchy.
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“K.Flay is smart, powerful, honest and unafraid in her music and in her life,” Morello says of the collaboration. “As co-survivors of the Northern Illinois suburbs, we have a kinship and a friendship that makes for great synergy when we rock together, as is on full display with the beautifully caustic ‘TGIF.’”
K.Flay told Alternative Press that she’s been friends with the Prophets Of Rage alum for roughly four years now. “Obviously, Tom is a legend, but he is also just a great guy, and I really love being able to just have excuses to talk to him and spend time with him,” she says.
Morello has collaborated with a variety of artists, from legendary political-punk band Pussy Riot to hard-rock giants the Pretty Reckless. He’s also played alongside old-school household names such as Dennis DeYoung of Styx and even told Howard Stern about his willingness to work with controversial friend Ted Nugent. Having a wide musical palette lends itself to numerous opportunities, it seems. But the guitarist and K.Flay aren’t just aligned in musical styles. They also sync up when it comes to their outspoken political critique.
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Both artists are characteristically transparent about their influences and intentions in songwriting. Likewise, the same goes for “TGIF.” “I started writing this when Donald Trump was president,” K.Flay says. “A time when I felt so acutely that my government didn’t represent me, that my government was filled with lunatics and criminals.”
K.Flay doesn’t just lament the corruption within the government—she goes after the system as a whole.
“I was simultaneously fixated on the absurdity of the work week—this notion that Fridays are inherently a day of celebration,” K.Flay continues. “TGIF. It feels like a rally cry for capitalism when you take a step back and really consider it.”
K.Flay produced the track with longtime collaborators Tommy English, whose portfolio includes projects for Kacey Musgraves and Carly Rae Jepsen, and JT Daly, the former frontman of Paper Route. Both producers previously received Grammy nominations for their contributions to K.Flay’s 2017 album, Every Where Is Some Where.
“The song came together in this amazing way,” K.Flay says. “From me writing alone in my studio to working with [English and Daly] on production to asking Tom Morello to record the guitars and rip a solo. The word I kept using during the process was ‘demented.’ I wanted the track to feel demented, unhinged, insane.”
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This is the second song to be released off the upcoming EP, following after “Four Letter Words.” “‘FLW’ is about catharsis, about saying F you to whatever is bringing you down,” the artist said in a Twitter post. “Scream it in the shower, your car, your bedroom, your head.” The purgative song already has over 1 million streams on Spotify.
Twitter users immediately jumped on the opportunity to gas up the new track.
I’M FUCKING SPEECHLESS, THIS IS A FUCKING MASTERPIECE, WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK. @kflay REALLY OUTDID HERSELF HERE, BRUHHHHHHHH
ALSO TOMS SOLO, I’M SHOOKETH pic.twitter.com/LmvFdtZAZz
— Toffi | Flay Fam | RHD 🏳️🌈🎵 (@ToffiMusic99) May 20, 2021
wow I can’t wait to speed in my Honda Civic to this
— gay satan😈🔥 (@iam_theanchor) May 21, 2021
K.Flay’s EP is set to drop June 11 on BMG, followed by a long-awaited tour the following year. Tour dates and the tracklisting for Inside Voices are below.
Inside Voices EP tracklisting:
“Four Letter Words”
“Good Girl”
“Dating My Dad” (feat. Travis Barker)
“TGIF” (feat. Tom Morello)
“My Name Isn’t Katherine”
Tour dates:
02/10 – Charlotte, NC @ Underground
02/11 – Atlanta, GA @ Terminal West
02/12 – Nashville, TN @ Basement East
02/14 – Asheville, NC @ Orange Peel
02/16 – Washington, DC @ 930
02/17 – New York, NY @ Irving Plaza
02/19 – Boston, MA @ Big Night Live
02/20 – Buffalo, NY @ Town Ballroom
02/21 – Toronto, ON @ Danforth
02/23 – Detroit, MI @ St Andrews
02/25 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Ave
02/28 – St Louis, MO @ Delmar Hall
03/01 – Kansas City, MO @ Truman
03/03 – Colorado Springs, CO @ Black Sheep
03/04 – Denver, CO @ Summit
03/05 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Complex
03/06 – Boise, ID @ Knitting Factory
03/08 – Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom
03/09 – Seattle, WA @ Showbox
03/10 – Vancouver, BC @ Hollywood Theatre
03/13 – Los Angeles, CA @ Fonda
03/15 – San Diego, CA @ Observatory
What do you think about K.Flay’s collab with Tom Morello? Let us know in the comments below!