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In her new single "twentyone," Carly Rose gives us a wake up call we've been putting off for far too long. Musically, the song is a fun, upbeat anthem. Like the birthday cake on the cover art, this track is the perfect recipe: one cup edgy guitar riffs, a sprinkle of an iconic bassline, a dash of spacey effects, and a huge helping of Carly's smoother-than-butter vocals. But don't be fooled. Although the song sounds like a party, its message is the opposite.

Inspired by her idols who we lost painfully too soon (such as Kurt Cobain and Amy Winehouse), Carly wrote this piece to show us the potential dangers of being in the spotlight at a young age. Her lyrics describe chilling yet typical images like "the party never ends when all your friends don't know your last name" and "top shelf treatment 'til you're bleeding alone in the fast lane." When discussing the tragedy of her late heroes, Carly says "there's a lot of pressure that comes with that much power, especially when they're still growing up and figuring it out like everybody else. There's too many casualties, but we brush them off casually because we're desensitized at this point. That needs to change. We owe them that."

You might remember Carly's groundbreaking run on the X Factor in 2012, where she earned 2nd place at merely 13 years old. However, she's come a long way since then. After stepping back from the industry to hone her craft (and be a teenager, of course), she reemerged last year with a refreshing and fully formed sound. She's begun showing the world her maturity and true potential in a stream of knockout singles, leading up to her newest release "twentyone." After securing her title as "indie-pop queen," the now 21-year-old is preparing to release her debut EP this fall, and most importantly, she's doing it her way.

Stream "twentyone" Below: