Sweet Pill share new single ‘Slow Burn’

Sweet Pill today shared their driving new single, “Slow Burn,” from their forthcoming new album “Still There’s A Glow”– one of Stereogum and Brooklyn Vegan’s most anticipated of 2026. Out now alongside an OD Blank-directed video, the song sees singer Zayna Youssef wrestling with anxiety and overthinking.

“I kept seeing a cigarette and how every slow drag fills you up with literal death, but the exhale feels so good–the irony of how something that feels good is so bad for you. There are countless things in my life I take a deeeep, slow drag from that really don’t benefit me, these habits have a short term satisfaction but the long term effect can be just one big slowburn,” she explains. “The song and video explore anxiety disguised as cameras and their constant surveillance. A snapshot into the mind of someone who overthinks to the point of ‘seeing things’ that may not even be there. Whether I am battling confidence or bad habits, overthinking can be so habitual. It kind of traps you in this circular purgatory which you find me running in and out of.”

“Slow Burn” follows additional singles “Glow” and “No Control,” which saw praise and support from Stereogum, Rolling Stone (‘Songs You Need To Know’), Alternative Press, Brooklyn Vegan, The Needle Drop, and more. “Still There’s A Glow” will be released on March 13^th via Hopeless Records and is now available for pre-order.

Pre-order/Pre-save ‘Still There’s A Glow’ here

“Still There’s A Glow” track listing

1. Sunblind
2. Shameless
3. No Control
4. Glow
5. Slow Burn
6. Smoke Screen
7. What the Devil Is Selling
8. Makes Me Sick
9. Rotten
10. Jinx
11. Tough Love
12. Holding On
13. Letting Go

“Still There’s a Glow” is a hard-fought document of self-reflection and growth–raw and real, and stacked with lyrical honesty. Written and recorded in the wake of a whirlwind three years following their 2022 debut LP, “Where the Heart Is”–and after scrapping essentially an entire album’s worth of demos – “Still There’s a Glow” is a dynamic, cathartic journey of making conscious change within oneself.

“I went through some depression last spring, and then I went into therapy. It was also a big turning point in my life as I was about to turn 30, while I’d written our first record when I was graduating from college–that’s a big change,”Youssef explains. “I could’ve kept making bad choices because they’re easy, but I had to come clean to myself. Half the album was written before and the other half after, so the songs are kind of hard on myself but some are also hopeful, with a light at the end of the tunnel. You put out a fire, there’s still an ember that’s still glowing–that’s the record. It’s about being at a low and climbing out of it.”

The close-knit Philadelphia/New Jersey quintet–Youssef, guitarists Jayce Williams and Sean McCall, bassist Ryan Cullen, and drummer Chris Kearney–had been going virtually nonstop since the release of “Where the Heart Is” (Topshelf). They went on tour with bands including La Dispute and The Wonder Years, embarked on their own headlining runs–organically growing a devoted fanbase with their passionate live show, which Stereogum has lauded as “an immensely charming powerhouse…songs that obliterate the distinctions between power and finesse, between pop and hardcore, between emo and the larger continuum of crowd-pleasing rock ‘n’ roll.” The young band earned co-signs from stars like Hayley Williams and Doja Cat, while continuing to tour nonstop worldwide and play festivals like Best Friends Forever, Riot Fest, and Outbreak.

Though they were writing all the while, the exhaustion of new expectations and such an intense touring regimen took its toll: when the time came for Sweet Pill to begin recording their next album, Youssef was blocked, still figuring out what and how she wanted to sing on nearly half the songs. The band decided to start fresh and step away from most of the demos they’d created, choosing to instead pause, look inward, and move on their own time in order to ease the pressure they had been heaping on themselves over the past three years. This is where “Still There’s a Glow” really begins. Gathering additional new material from her bandmates helped to unlock Youssef lyrically, and the entire undertaking marked a shift in Sweet Pill’s creative dynamic: it is their first release written fully as a group, and with the current line-up. Ushering in a new era of the band, they wanted to encapsulate the energy of their live show in the new recordings, and honed in on their individual parts with that in mind.

And from the first note, “Still There’s a Glow” sounds like a band that has put itself back together, with lyrics throughout that feel deeply determined in the face of daily struggles with pressure and self-doubt. The album has a more elevated sound that highlights Sweet Pill’s evolution. Crisply recorded by Gradwell House wizards Matt Weber (producer, engineer, mixing) and Dave Downham (mastering), the songs are big and hard-hitting yet also at times showcase a quieter new direction while still feeling familiar. Some are upbeat and affirmative, while others glimmer and smolder, woven around Youssef and McCall’s interplaying vocals. And many are belied by titles that are largely surreal depictions of fire and destruction, emblematic of Youssef’s journey of self-confrontation, burning down and rebuilding how she moves through her life and her personal relationships.