Tel Aviv-based pop artist Noga Erez has signed with Atlantic’s Neon Gold Records, Billboard can exclusively announce. The announcement is accompanied by a new single, “NAILS,” which features the Israeli singer’s trademark swaggering attitude, gritty lyrics and slick production style.
“I’m super excited to begin to work with the people of Atlantic/Neon Gold,” the 31-year-old musician says about the signing in a statement. “This partnership is a big step for me. We’ve already started to get the ball rolling creatively and we have some big plans ahead of us.”
Derek Davies, co-founder of Neon Gold, also shared his excitement about the label’s newest artist: “Neon Gold has long been defined by iconoclastic international pop talents — from Charli XCX and MARINA to Tove Lo and Christine And The Queens — and we are thrilled to welcome the genreless and borderless Noga Erez to the fold as one of the most visionary artists we’ve ever had the pleasure of working with.”
Erez released her first album, Off The Radar, in 2017 through German indie label City Slang; her first single from the LP, “Toy,” received acclaim from the New York Times and she was named one of Forbes Israel’s Under 30 that same year. Off The Radar was co-produced by her musical and life partner Ori Rousso, who also worked closely with Erez on her second album, 2021’s KIDS.
Erez has transitioned into creating more politically charged material, inspired by events in her hometown of Tel Aviv, as well as writing more personally revealing songs. New single “NAILS” remains within that introspective vein, as the singer tackles how overbearing jealousy can become once it takes hold.
“Noga Erez breaks down the barriers of genre with a unique creative vision that plays with elements of pop, alternative, R&B and rap,” say Jeff Levin, SVP A&R at Atlantic Records, and Madison Vickery, A&R Director at Atlantic, in a joint statement. “Erez represents another leap forward for the label and for music. Their live show brings stadium level energy to every room. We’re proud to welcome her to our roster and provide a platform for her creative vision.”
Erez says of her new single, “‘NAILS’ is a song about jealousy, and how being jealous of people, in this particular case another woman, makes you idealize that person in a very weird and dark way.” In the music video, Erez faces her jealousy head-on, rising against the object of her envious emotions – a woman that embodies all of society’s idea of conventional beauty.
“The video features me and a group of characters who all look completely different and weird, but they all look like they’re about to do something really big,” Erez explains. “There is a real tension as if something is about to happen. What we are actually walking towards is a woman who looks like a model. She has that typical/classic body image. The unrealistic societal standards of beauty – skinny, tall, sexy, flawless. She’s walking in slow motion, and as we all come into the same shot, you realize that she is actually ten times our size. Then there is a David-and-Goliath type of situation where I take out a slingshot and shoot her straight in the forehead and she drops dead. It’s very weird and ugly and funny.”
Check out the “NAILS” video below.
