Gretel shares new single ‘Darkness Be My Friend’

London-based artist Gretel returns with her razor-sharp new single ‘Darkness Be My Friend’, out now via Breadcrumb Records/AWAL. With blistering live instrumentation and shadow-laden vocals ‘Darkness Be My Friend’ captures Gretel at her most exposed and most fearless, as she explains:

“I wrote ‘Darkness Be My Friend’ the day before we went in to start re-recording my next project the new unfamiliar way – I was scared and didn’t know if I had what it takes. It was dark but it was exciting. Recording live in this way challenged me way more as a musician than before, and it’s given me a huge desire to go forward and get better and tricksier with it in future. I feel like I’ve only just been born.”

‘Darkness Be My Friend’ follows the release of Gretel’s recent singles ‘Maybelline’, its newly released live version recorded at Next Door Records, and ‘Unbloom’, alongside a live performance captured at her show at The Waiting Room. Each release has deepened the mythology of her world: a space where gothic fairytales meet emotional excavation, and where vulnerability transforms into defiance.

Since emerging at just 18 with the haunting debut single ‘Slugeye’, Gretel has carved out her own magnetic space in alternative music. Her intoxicating body of work draws on gothic stories and allegories of monsters, innocence and power. Influenced by the likes of Nirvana, Nick Cave, PJ Harvey and Wolf Alice, Gretel’s sound is steeped in grit, intimacy and dark magic. Her world is half dreamscape, half diary and has resonated deeply with fans and critics alike. Last year was vital for the rising star: she received her first BBC1 Hottest Record in the World from Clara Amfo, was playlisted multiple times across UK radio – a rare feat for a fiercely independent artist – and collaborated with her musical partner Mura Masa on his headrush of a single ‘2gether’ (9M+ streams on Spotify alone). Gretel has already been on the cover of Dork magazine, included in NME’s coveted NME100 list, was part of DIY magazine’s ‘Class of 2024’, and was also dubbed one to watch by The Sunday Times, Metro, Time Out + more. Recent support shows with Sports Team have further showcased her growing presence on the live circuit and has earned a dedicated following for her electric live shows, most recently at a sold out headline show at The George Tavern.

With ‘Darkness Be My Friend’, Gretel steps fully into a new chapter, one defined by risk, rebirth, and radical honesty: it’s the sound of an artist letting the darkness speak.