Premiere: King IV and Ipon link up for a stomping return, Smackdown

Since we were first introduced to the Melbourne-based musician as someone blurring the lines between electronica and R&B, King IV has come a long, long way. Today, she's a creative and bold forward-thinking visionary of Australia's pop scene not just staying ahead of the curve but in fact defining it on a local level, her productions often amongst the country's most versatile and hard-hitting while vocally, she has the fierceness of someone that really stands out of the crowd - perhaps the reason why we keep coming back to her time and time again.

After a string of singles over the last few years have helped King IV define and flesh out her sound, her year thus far has been relatively quiet release-wise; the pop creative seemingly working on new material and songwriting as she hones in on her craft to push herself to that next level, which is something we're beginning to see with today's return, Smackdown.

Featuring Paris-based producer Ipon, Smackdown - their new collaboration - is amongst Australian pop's hardest singles for the year so far, with three minutes (well, just shy of) of thick bass kicks and PC Music-esque metallic twangs forming the perfect underlay for King IV to strut her stuff as a confident and menacing star-on-the-rise. She's as focused and fierce as ever, but with Ipon's production hitting in a certain way that amplifies King IV's vocal, you really get the sense that this is the Melbourne-based musician - and her Parisian producer - hitting the ground running when it comes to solidifying their craft.

"Ipon and myself have a vision to create a transfixing world of music that is both intense and energetic, Smackdown is the first instalment of that," she says on the single. "Working between Paris and Melbourne, this track came together very organically despite our distance. We’re creating at a vivacious pace together, and our sound only gets bigger from here."

Continuing, she breaks down that the single's boldness comes from cathartic release, with King IV letting go of personal hinges to flourish to the best of her ability. "Smackdown is about releasing your personal hinges," she says. "It is about letting go of fear and pain in order to begin the process of waking up the most powerful parts of yourself." Dive into the track below (cover art by @_avide.):

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