Colombian export Lao Ra just confirmed herself as pop's most vibrant newcomer with "Bang Boom"

Having arrived in London obsessed with MTV and with the sound of UK punk ringing in her ears, Lao Ra began producing demos whilst working shifts as a barmaid, dog walker, and eventually, the PR at a smoke alarm manufacturing company. A far from glamorous introduction to British life, but eventually something clicked for the Bogota-born artist.

Lao Ra's debut tune, the lilting "Jesus Made Me Bad" was an instant viral hit, infuriating swathes of Christian YouTube users in the process with its tongue-in-cheek blasphemy woven between sultry steel drums and candied choruses. A tour with MØ and another stellar single "Drum Machine" followed soon after - and now Lao Ra is hitting back with "Bang Boom", her third glistening transatlantic banger.

"Bang Boom" wasn't always packed with joyously in-your-face hooks in the mould of M.I.A. - comically, it took root in Lao Ra's notebook as a tribute to bamboo. “Bamboo might not look powerful, but it’s stronger than steel," she begins to explain. "It might bend, but it won’t break.” Distilling all the passion and flair of the carnival into a 3 minute pop song takes the sort of diamond-hard charisma you just can't teach: Lao Ra just showed everyone how it's done.