Empress Of has unveiled her final preview of the forthcoming album Dream House with “HandsOn,” a deeply personal new single arriving ahead of the record’s September 18 release via Giant Music.
Built around powerful dance rhythms and Lorely Rodriguez’s sharp, witty lyricism, “HandsOn” is a yearning for something tangible and real. The track continues the emotional arc of Dream House, an album shaped by devastating loss, resilience, and the difficult process of rebuilding.
Written in the aftermath of the Altadena fires that destroyed Empress Of’s family home, Dream House explores the many forms reconstruction can take. While the physical rebuilding of the house serves as a central thread, the album also examines the emotional and psychological work involved in recovering from profound loss and finding a way forward.
“HandsOn” arrives as the final piece of the album’s rollout, offering another glimpse into what Empress Of describes as her most personal and unguarded work to date. Across the record, Lorely documents her journey back toward herself, her creativity, and the sense of joy that originally inspired her to make music.
The beginnings of Dream House came from a simple voice memo recorded while Lorely played piano. “One afternoon I made a little voice memo while playing a piano mumbling the phrase, ‘I wanna build a dream for you,’” she explains. “That’s when this whole thing kind of started. Like a little spark. Someone said a phoenix isn’t born, it’s remembered and in making this album I remembered why I make music.”
That idea of rebuilding became more than a metaphor. Throughout the creation of Dream House, Empress Of and her mother, Reina, were physically rebuilding their family home, watching the foundation being poured, the walls framed, and eventually the roof and front door installed. The gradual transformation of the house mirrored the emotional reconstruction taking place alongside it.
Reina, who has appeared throughout Empress Of’s discography, contributes her voice to the new album, giving her involvement an even deeper significance this time around. Cecile Believe was also closely involved throughout the album’s creation, while Blood Orange appears on the record following Lorely’s recent guest appearance during his acclaimed Coachella performance.
To celebrate the release of Dream House, Empress Of will perform at Music Hall of Williamsburg in New York City on September 30. The performance carries additional significance as the venue prepares to close its doors this fall. Lorely previously performed at the venue earlier in her career, making the upcoming show a full-circle moment that reflects the album’s broader themes of endings, remembrance, and new beginnings.
Dream House follows Empress Of’s acclaimed 2024 album For Your Consideration, her first release with Giant Music. The bilingual album was named Best New Music by Pitchfork, which described the record as “dazzling,” while showcasing Lorely’s embrace of camp, fantasy, and her role as an executive producer.
Over the course of her career, Empress Of has collaborated with artists including Blood Orange, Shygirl, Tommy Genesis, and Boys Noize, while touring alongside Lorde, Rina Sawayama, and Carly Rae Jepsen. She has also performed at major festivals including Outside Lands, Austin City Limits, Portola, and Corona Capital.
With “HandsOn,” Empress Of closes the pre-release chapter of Dream House with a song that captures the album’s central tension: the desire to hold onto something real while learning how to rebuild after everything familiar has changed.
Dream House arrives September 18 via Giant Music.
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