Natalia Kills Resurfaces As Cruel Youth: Listen To New Song “Mr. Watson”

Last summer, Teddy Sinclair, the artist formerly known as Natalia Kills, let fans know on Twitter that she was retiring her Natalia persona and starting a band. (Not surprising, given that she and husband Willy Moon committed career suicide by needlessly attempting to demolish X Factor New Zealand contestant Joe Irvine on air.) So here we are now with Cruel Youth, the latest project from Kills/Sinclair and husband Moon, and new single “Mr. Watson,” a sort of old-school Lana Del Rey by way of Amy Winehouse pop-soul hybrid.

It’s curious that a pair so concerned with imitation have released a song entrenched in the style of so many others who have gone before them, but here you have it.

Sinclair penned a letter about her latest incarnation, part of which you can read below:

Cruel Youth is the musical love child created during a 3-month lock-in at my studio with my husband Willy Moon. It’s The Ronettes on Oxy, it’s a narcotic lullaby, a psychedelic jingle you might hear waiting in line at a Western Union or a laptop symphony soundtracking a car crash in slow motion. Willy and I met whilst both signed to Universal Records, and married only a few months later. Cruel Youth is an intravenous hit of our love and everything I find beautiful.

For a brief moment in 2015 I felt like it was the death of me, but somehow the part that survived was a pure uncensored passion that quickly became the ace in my hand. While evolving my solo project into my new band I was approached to be a personality on X Factor New Zealand, which lead to a publicity stunt resulting in a viral media storm. I was subjected to a global witch hunt I couldn’t defend myself against due to a wide-reaching legal gagging order. It was a truly regrettable situation for everyone involved, and Willy and I flew back to our home in New York where I threw myself headfirst into songwriting. Days later, I was collaborating with Madonna on her #1 album Rebel Heart, co-writing the song “Holy Water”. I was drafted onto Rihanna’s writing team, spending months traveling the world with her, and ultimately co-writing ‘Kiss It Better’ on her worldwide #1 album Anti.

Listen to “Mr. Watson” above, and catch the rest of Sinclair’s letter at Consequence Of Sound.

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