POPPY RETURNS WITH HAUNTING AND FEROCIOUS NEW SINGLE “GUARDIAN”

Poppy’s new single “Guardian” arrives with a clear sense of direction, offering the most vivid look yet at her upcoming album Empty Hands, due January 23 on Sumerian Records. It is a track that encapsulates the tension, control, and emotional sharpness that have defined her recent evolution, but it also signals something deeper. “Guardian” feels like a distillation of Poppy’s current artistic identity, a point where her introspective writing and heavier sonic instincts finally meet in equilibrium.

The song opens in a near-whisper, building slowly as urgent guitar riffs and thunderous percussion begin to take shape beneath her voice. The heaviness is present from the start, but so is an unmistakable melodic clarity. Poppy sings with restraint in the verses, then lets her voice rise with measured intensity as the track expands. She has always thrived on the contrast between softness and aggression, yet here the balance feels more deliberate. The guitars snarl, the drums pound, but the vocals serve as the emotional spine that holds everything together.

“Guardian” continues a series of 2025 successes that have pushed Poppy further into the center of the modern metal conversation. Earlier this year, “Suffocate,” her collaboration with Knocked Loose, earned a nomination for Best Metal Performance at the 2025 Grammy Awards as well as a performance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! It followed a milestone moment in 2021 when she became the first female solo artist ever nominated in that category for her explosive track “BLOODMONEY.”

Her recent output also sets the stage for the world that the “Guardian” inhabits. “Bruised Sky,” produced and co-written by Jordan Fish, introduced a colder, atmospheric edge. “Unravel,” another Fish collaboration, leaned into shadowy introspection. Her enigmatic cover of WHAM’s “Last Christmas” for Spotify showed her ability to bend familiarity into something uncanny. And “End of You,” the collaborative powerhouse featuring Amy Lee and Courtney LaPlante, debuted at number one on Billboard’s Hot Hard Rock Songs chart and demonstrated her ability to stand tall among metal’s most commanding voices.

Against that backdrop, “Guardian” feels like a culmination rather than an isolated release. It sits comfortably within her recent body of work while also pushing beyond it. Lyrically, the track folds themes of protection, surrender, and emotional reckoning into a tight, compelling structure. The writing allows space for vulnerability without losing the strength that defines the production. Nothing is exaggerated for drama. Instead, the song’s power comes from its restraint.

Empty Hands will soon mark Poppy’s seventh studio album, and every indication suggests it will be one of her most ambitious yet. The record is said to draw from industrial textures, pop sensibilities, and flashes of her surrealist roots, all anchored by her distinct, machine-like vocal presence. The tracklist she revealed today (find it below) hints at a project that aims to collapse boundaries rather than tiptoe around them.

Empty Hands Tracklist: 

1. Public Domain

2. Bruised Sky

3. Guardian

4. Constantly Nowhere

5. Unravel

5. Dying to Forget

6. Time Will Tell 

8. Eat The Hate 

9. The Wait

10. If We're Following the Light

11. Blink

12. Ribs

13. Empty Hands