Over the past few months, STELLA has dropped a solid streak of sultry singles, including a cover of Drake’s “Hotline Bling.” Brand new single “New Toy” is a meaty R&B-inspired track that’s enough to calm our hunger for new material from the up-and-coming singer, who is also the daughter of rock legend Carlos Santana.
Produced by Jared Evan, “New Toy” is four minutes long, but there’s a lot to parse in that short timeframe. On the production level, there’s a strong dub influence in the verses, emerging in the snare fills and deep bass, but tightly intertwined with beats that resemble 90s-era Timbaland. This is probably STELLA’s poppiest moment so far, as the beat fattens up and tender synth strings enter the picture for ultimate drama. She sings, “fell out of the sky, boy/just for you/I’m your brand new toy,” but eventually changes her mind, because frankly, she’s nobody’s toy and she wants to be treated right. By the time the chorus kicks in, she sets things straight and says, “I’m not your little toy/for you to destroy.” Tell ’em, STELLA.