Who is METTE? The future superstar's "Petrified" is the best pop debut of the year

Towley isn't your typical new artist having already toured the world for five years. Albeit as a dancer, rather than the headlining star she's destined to become, as the lead of Pharrell's dance troupe she's already well accustomed to the performing aspect of her new life.

Evoking Timbaland-era hip hop and the highs of Nelly Furtado's creative peak with Loose, "Petrified" trades in a recent nostalgia, panning for gold in a treasure chest of influences that are virtually untouched in pop right now. The first of a promised run of singles, "Petrified" came together in a series of late-night studio sessions.

A quadruple threat, Towley's foray into music isn't a diversion or deviation from grander ambitions in any of her other creative discipline, this is the moment she's been dreaming of for a long time. “I remember I heard a lot of “no”s when I was younger and I internalised a lot of that," she explains. "I now realise I’ve been hiding this dream for so long that it’s like, okay, we need to move forward in authenticity. Music is my first love - period.”

The self-directed video is glam, and nothing short of perfection, highlighting how even the most striking song can be elevated to another level through the right visual treatment. It's opening shot, with Towley riding a quad bike down a runway is simply iconic.

“I saw a video of a woman doing this on Instagram and I just thought, if that isn’t me clinging onto my destiny for dear life,” she laughs. Destiny is speeding up now and her fate appears to be sealed. With the arrival of "Petrified" 2021 is clearly her's to take.