Transylvanian-born singer and songwriter Sorana is turning the chaos of overthinking into dark, theatrical pop with her new single, ‘BULLIES.’ The release offers another glimpse into her upcoming debut album, Shift, a project exploring mental health, anxiety, and the experience of becoming trapped inside your own thoughts. Blending hyperpop hooks with hard-hitting electronic production, the track transforms self-doubt into an unfiltered inner monologue that confronts the thoughts that can become our harshest critics.
Co-written by Madison Love, known for her work with Lady Gaga, Camila Cabello, and Addison Rae, and produced by Inverness, whose credits include GloRilla, j-hope, and Ava Max, ‘BULLIES’ combines sharp wit and dark humor with an energetic, experimental sound. Its production reflects the mental turbulence behind the song, balancing catchy pop melodies with the intensity of intrusive thoughts and anxiety.
For Sorana, the single draws from the experience of late-night overthinking and the way negative thoughts can become difficult to escape. Rather than presenting those feelings through a straightforward pop narrative, she approaches them with a mix of theatricality, humor, and emotional honesty.
“’BULLIES’ is about late-night overthinking and realizing that my own thoughts can become my biggest bullies, a horror movie playing on a loop inside my head. I made these songs with my friends Madison Love and Inverness, who I worked with across the rest of the album,” Sorana shares.
She describes the music as sitting at the intersection of hyperpop, experimental electronic music, and K-pop, bringing together influences from different corners of contemporary pop. The release also marks an important moment in the rollout of Shift, which she describes as her clearest artistic statement to date.
The single arrives alongside a music video directed by Sorana and Neve Abcari, whose previous work includes projects with Kim Petras, Lucy Bedroque, and Young Thug. Inspired by horror films, the video is the first installment in a planned series of ten visuals created for Shift.
In the video, intrusive thoughts take physical form as groups of mean schoolgirls who appear inside the protagonist’s mind, corner her in a bathroom, and attack her. The disturbing imagery gives a literal face to the experience of feeling overwhelmed by your own thoughts, with the horror-inspired setting reflecting the way anxiety can make familiar surroundings feel threatening.
For Sorana, the visual approach provides another way to explore the emotional themes at the center of the album. By turning internal struggles into theatrical scenes, she creates a world where difficult feelings can be confronted through storytelling, fashion, and imagery.
“I’ve struggled with that feeling myself, especially those moments at 3 a.m. when anxiety takes over and you start spiraling about the future, your regrets, or things you feel guilty about,” Sorana says. “But the larger message behind the album is that you don’t have to stay in those dark places forever. You can build your own fantasy, create your own reality, and imagine a world that feels better than the one inside your head. For me, this project is about taking those feelings and turning them into something visual, something theatrical, and ultimately, something I have the power to create.”
That sense of creative control extends beyond her music. Classically trained in piano, Sorana developed a genre-blending style shaped by artists such as Michael Jackson, Sia, and Lana Del Rey, alongside the bold visual artistry of Lady Gaga. She has also built a distinctive aesthetic through fashion design, creating handmade costumes and light-up wigs that complement her music’s theatrical sensibility.
Before establishing herself as a solo artist, Sorana built an extensive songwriting career, surpassing five billion streams as a songwriter and earning multiple Platinum certifications across the United States, the United Kingdom, and South Korea. Her credits include songs for KATSEYE, The Chainsmokers, Charli XCX, Jennie, Ava Max, Doechii, Illenium, and Little Mix, including the multi-Platinum singles ‘Takeaway’ and ‘Heartbreak Anthem.’
She began her solo career in 2022 with ‘redruM,’ a collaboration with David Guetta that reached No. 1. Her subsequent EPs, Techno Sexual (2023) and Techno Sexual (Even More Sexual) (2025), explored cyberpunk-inspired themes of digital intimacy. In 2025, she reunited with Alan Walker for ‘Mind of a Warrior,’ the official anthem for Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves, and later gained viral attention with ‘Adam’ and ‘Delulu,’ featuring Ryan Lu.
With ‘BULLIES,’ Sorana continues to bring her personal experiences into a larger creative universe, combining electronic experimentation, pop songwriting, and horror-inspired visuals. As the countdown to Shift continues, the single establishes a darker, more vulnerable side of her artistic identity while delivering a message of resilience: even when your own mind feels like the enemy, you can still find a way to reclaim the narrative.