Cody Simpson Debuts New Song “Flower” With Artwork By Miley Cyrus

Christina Lee | February 4, 2015 12:04 pm

When Cody Simpson caught up with Idolator recently, he said that he was inspired by artists who wrote guitar-based songs, like Neil Young and Bob Dylan. He had been playing the guitar casually since he was 7, so six years before he entered the music scene with bubblegum pop as a fresh-faced tween, though he decided that he really wanted to show off his chops for his next solo album — his first as an independent artist, and tentatively titled Free.

“Once you get to a place where you can do it exactly how you want, you always come back to what you’ve been listening to your entire life,” he said.

Simpson gives away even more of those influences in his new song, premiered today (February 4) by Rolling Stone. “Flower” begins as a Jack Johnson-inspired beach pop, sounding breezy even as Simpson sings of unrequited love (“I know I’ll never be the apple of your eye / but I’ll pick you a flower, if you like”). But then an bluesy electric guitar solo waltzes in at the bridge, the sort of turn that John Mayer would take in his own songs.

Miley Cyrus, fellow former child star, designed Simpson’s single artwork: an almost-dead daisy, shot on in iPhone. “I just wanted something where people didn’t have a stereotypical idea of what he was and could just look at the song for what it is, because it’s a fucking epic song,” she says to RS. Listen to “Flower” below.

Get an eyeful of even more pop music coverage, from artist interviews to exclusive performances, on Idolator’s YouTube channel.