Multiplatinum chart–topping global pop powerhouse Zara Larsson releases “Crush,” a bittersweet single destined to soundtrack endless crying-in-the-club moments before summer’s end. The new single hails from the Swedish star’s highly anticipated new album, Midnight Sun, which is set for release on September 26 via Sommer House / Epic Records.
Get “Crush” HERE at all DSPs, and go HERE to pre-order, and pre-add/save Midnight Sun, which is available alongside an exclusive run of merchandise and physical products, including limited edition signed CDs and vinyl variants.
Written by Zara with Helena Gao and producers Margo XS, MNEK and Zhone, “Crush” serves up a masterclass in dancing through the pain while our heroine details the exquisite torture of catching feelings for someone while you’ve already got a good thing at home. The track evolves from soft tones and a shuffling beat into something driving and determined as Zara pushes back temptation and commits to a decision: “Then it hits me like reality, I can’t lose him to a fantasy / It ain’t heartbreak, but it still hurts enough / Oh baby I’m crushed, it will never be us / That’s why they call it a crush, it will never be love.”
“Crush” follows the album’s transcendent title track, “Midnight Sun,” which has penetrated the culture with virality all summer thanks to the song’s Charlotte Rutherford-directed, Y2K-inspired music video and Zara’s own vocal prowess on the track. With cosigns and memes from everybody from Renee Rapp, Kylie Jenner, PinkPanthress, Ariana Grande and Halle Berry, creations on TikTok around the song have tripled in recent weeks. The press have also rallied around “Midnight Sun.” Rolling Stone called it a “song-of-the-summer contender,” while Pitchfork highlighted it on their own “2025 Song of the Summer” list. In a Q&A, PAPER Magazine dubbed “Midnight Sun” a “shimmering pop anthem soaked in nostalgia,” while GRAMMY.com wrote “the beat drops with such hypnotic force that the track’s climax feels like staring directly into, well, a midnight sun.” Recently, Zara releases a a two-track bundle comprising a remix by Chicago DJ Alex Chapman and a live version that came with a performance video shot in the gorgeous northern Swedish village of Björkliden during an actual midnight summer sun — watch HERE.
Zara kicked off this era with the confident and rowdy “Pretty Ugly“ and its gloriously messy music video, also directed by Charlotte Rutherford and choreographed by Zoi Tatopoulos. Fittingly, the music video was just nominated for an MTV Video Music Award for “Best Choreography.” The song and video are both unapologetically unfiltered, just like Midnight Sun, the album. The 10-track set ripples with confidence as its storytelling bursts with truth and vulnerability, plumbing the depth and growth of Zara‘s artistry and journey over nearly 20 years in the public eye. It is unafraid to show all sides of the 27-year-old: lovestruck, wistful, ambitious, cocky, flippant, and uncertain, often in the same breath.
The pop star recently kicked off a North American arena tour alongside Tate McRae, which is set to hit Chicago, IL tonight at the United Center. With stops along the way including New York, NY’s Madison Square Garden on September 2 and 3, and Los Angeles, CA’s The Forum on September 26 and 27, Zara has been teasing the new album by performing some of the unreleased music. On October 28, she will kick off a European headlining tour, before hitting the road in February 2026 alongside OneRepublic in Australia and New Zealand.
