Miss Machina Marvels over the Oddities of Modern Life on New Single “Stranger Than Fiction”

Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter Miss Machina continues to tease out the arrival of her forthcoming debut album with her latest iridescently nostalgic single “Stranger Than Fiction.” It’s the third song she’s shared from the record following the giddy-pop kineticism of “Like That” and the disco-spiraling “Rumors.”

The project of Dallas-born Ash Smith, the music of Miss Machina radiates from a trifecta of decade-spanning influences. One that draws on the ecstatic hits of ABBA as well as echoing modern incarnations like Dua Lipa’s time-traveling Future Nostalgia and the rapturously versatile grunge-rock-pop of Sky Ferreira.

On her latest single “Stranger Than Fiction,” she rallies all those gleaming and glittering sonic textures into an anthemic exploration of delusional fantasies. Especially the ones perpetuated by the glowing screens that dominate life in the 21st century, distorting our expectations and enabling an addictive denial of reality.

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“All my friends have cameras in their hands, delusions in their head,” she laments against the scintillating swerve of an electric guitar. Smith’s vocals emerge as an effervescent compliment to the song’s synth-shimmering melody — lending it a radiance that turns the blood electric and sends galvanizing goosebumps up the body.

Just like the pop luminaries Miss Machina counts amongst her inspirations, she saturates all her worries over the oppressive ubiquity of social media and the siren’s song of content creation in a persistently euphoric energy. It’s how “Stranger Than Fiction” gets its hooks in you almost immediately. Bathing you in this riveting clash of gilded riffs and beaming electronica.