Chelji goes in for the kill with her aggressive new single Funeral — showcasing today on Tinnitist.
Another brutal, pop-grunge hybrid, Funeral delivers all the angst and attitude you expect from Chelji, alongside memorable singalong melodies. The track opens with a moody guitar riff, taken over by the bass later in the track, with Chelji’s vocals shining in the thin texture with confident, combative lyricism. Next comes a clap that immediately lets you know the track will grow into a disruptive anthem. Crunchy, distant, electric guitar, and chant-like backing vocals in the chorus are the final elements that solidify the ruthless banger.
“I wrote Funeral when I was in Sweden,” Chelji recalls. “As always, I started with a guitar loop. I never know what I’m going to write about until I start freestyling and just start saying how i feel, but I seemed to be angry about a past relationship at the time so I went with it. It’s a karma anthem.”
The Birmingham-born singer is a breath of fresh air for 21st-century pop. Her career took off after the track Hate Me took over TikTok years after she packed in her music career. Fast-forward to 2022 and Chelji was reborn, cultivating a committed audience of more than a million fans.
With a sound heavily influenced by the likes of Nirvana, Lil Peep, blackbear and Kanye West, Chelji tackles themes of domestic abuse, severe depression and substance abuse, informed by the struggles of her personal experience, lacing it with an element of hopefulness and defiance that’s encouraging to here. “My music’s gonna be fucked up,” she shares. “I’m going to touch on topics no one has ever touched on. “I want people who don’t feel heard to listen to my music and say ‘I’m valid’.”
Check out Funeral above, hear more from Chelji below, and follow her on Instagram, TikTok and Facebook.
