Releasing a heartbreak single the day before Valentine’s Day is either a provocation or a manifesto. For Alexis Strum, it’s both — and neither, really. It’s just what felt right. When The Good Goes Bad, out February 13th, is the latest single from her album Swim: mid-tempo, electropop, built around live drums and a battered glockenspiel with a missing beater. It’s dark without being dramatic, and grown-up in the way that actually means something — not polished or safe, but lived-in.

Strum closed out 2025 with a performance on BBC Woman’s Hour’s Christmas Day special and is now heading into 2026 with one foot in a Reading studio and the other pointed toward Japan. She writes hooks while doing housework, spends days agonizing over drum sounds, and has strong feelings about Valentine’s Day that she’s happy to explain at length. We talked to her about the unlikely DNA of her new single — somewhere between Streets of Philadelphia and Diva — about what live drums still do that machines can’t, and about making pop music when the business of pop music has never been more exhausting. She also tells a story about a boy, a rainy night, and Pearl Jam on the stereo that you won’t see coming.

photo by YellowBelly

Hey Alexis, thanks for taking the time to chat with me. I’ve been listening to “When The Good Goes Bad” on repeat, and there’s one detail that keeps catching my ear—the glockenspiel. It immediately stands out against the synthetic textural tracks. The glockenspiel is usually associated with something fragile, childlike, festive—but your song is about how the good falls apart. Tell me, how did you come to the decision to add this instrument to a song about a broken heart? Was this a decision made in the studio at Jim’s in Reading, or did you know in advance that you wanted this sound?

Hey, so glad you enjoyed the song, I honestly don’t know why but when I came to write this album, I just felt that the Glockenspiel had to be part of its sound, so I tried to crowbar it into any song I could! I like albums that are cohesive and have recurrent themes or sounds. It’s comforting. So for ‘Swim’ that thread was the Glockenspiel. I’m a multi-instrumentalist, so I go in waves with sounds and get obsessed with different instruments, pedals or pads at different times but you’re right- the childlike fragility of the Glockenspiel just felt right with this song in particular and 100% with ‘Life B4 Me’. I had to convince my co-writer and producer, Jim to let me play my Glock on the track- mainly because my Glockenspiel looks like a hot mess- the lid is hanging off and I only have one beater as I lost the other one, but once I started playing it over the track, I won him over! GlockPop is the new black!

Annie Lennox in the ’90s and Springsteen in the ’80s—these are two artists who knew how to turn personal pain into stadium anthems. But their methods are radically different: Lennox worked with cold electronics and detachment, Springsteen—with maximalist rock sound and straightforward emotion. When you were creating “When The Good Goes Bad,” which of them were you gravitating toward more emotionally? Or were you looking for something in between?

Great question! I was very much enjoying the minimalism of Springsteen’s ‘Streets of Philadelphia’ at that time and also obsessing over ‘Born To Run’ which musically is quite the opposite-  you almost feel out of breath with the overwhelming exhilaration and sonic layering of it. I feel like grown up classic pop is where my heart’s at and wanted to emulate the way he handles emotion and tells a story- his craftsmanship is incredible, When we started the first writing day for ‘When The Good Goes Bad’, we also listened to a lot of Annie’s ‘Diva’ album- more to get a vibe on some classic ’90’s synths, not really for song inspo but somehow we ended up with something that is the lovechild of Springsteen and Lennox! Bizarrely, the song actually started life way before Jim and I got together as an upbeat disco track a la Jessie Ware back when it was just a voice note on my phone. You would never know that from the final version. I’m always as shocked as the listener is by how my songs end up!!! Let’s hope in time my personal pain will become stadium anthems too!

Releasing a song about heartbreak on February 13th, the day before Valentine’s Day—that’s a bold choice. Most artists release something romantic or hopeful at this time of year. Did you want to give people an alternative to pink greeting cards, or was this a coincidence?

Absolutely! I try and do something a bit anarchic, bold, crazy and a little bit anti-valentine’s every Valentine’s Day. Last year I was in San Marino competing for Eurovision, the year before I did a free gig for single people and the year before that I did an anti-valentine’s storytelling night where people could share stories of times they almost fell in love. When I was a kid, Valentine’s Day signalled all the major artists rolling out their big ballads and I used to HATE that. It felt so cheesy. Even when I was in love or in relationships I couldn’t get on board with Valentine’s Day. It just feels really insular and vain and I’d prefer it if it were a day that was more inclusive and more about loving the world and showing kindness to others. Music should never make you feel lesser just because you’re single. I want my songs to move you, in whatever way you want to be moved. 

Live drums are rare in electropop now. Most producers use drum machines or samples because it’s faster, cleaner, more predictable. But you and Jim recorded live drums for this track. What does a live drummer give the song that you couldn’t get from programmed beats?

I just felt like something was missing and that’s probably the fault of binge-listening Springsteen before we pressed record! Jim is actually an amazing drummer but he’s kinda shy about his playing, I forced him to get on the kit and when he started playing I just sat there, spellbound and spent the day just listening to him play, take after take. Each iteration had something different, unique. And that’s why it’s so great to use live drums. I was very lucky and very spoiled to have them on the song. Also, I mentioned I’m a bit anarchic- I don’t like to be put in a box and that’s why I really like to push and prod the boundaries- why shouldn’t you have live drums in electropop? Why shouldn’t you have Glockenspiel with acoustic guitars etc?

Is it possible to write a good love song if you’re happy in a relationship? Or do the best love songs always come from a place of loss, longing, separation? I’m asking because your music is very honest, and it’s interesting—are there emotions that are simply harder to turn into a song because they’re too simple or too calm?

I think it is something we songwriters fear because happiness allegedly ‘writes white’ and starves us of our poetry or some nonsense, but in truth, I’ve written some amazing heartbreak songs when I’ve been happy. I have had a long life so far, full of experiences to mine and harvest. I just bank them and every horrible tw&t I’ve had break my heart has turned out to be a true gift to songwriting! Jokes aside though, I do struggle sometimes to find the words to say how I’m feeling in real life and so songwriting has actually been great therapy for me and a great way to put things into song. Simple and calm emotions are interesting to write about because sometimes they can be songs about gratitude or reaching that place in your heart BECAUSE you’ve been through so much- they can be just as cool, just as important. I do write very honestly and sometimes I get a bit of a vulnerability hangover, but nowhere near as much as I do for sharing stuff in person, 1:1, in my intimate life. I’m much more confident behind a song, behind a guitar.

photo by YellowBelly

You’ve worked in the industry long enough to see how the rules of the game have changed for independent artists. Before, you needed a label, radio, physical media. Now you can release music from your laptop and reach an audience directly. But freedom often comes with a price: you become your own manager, marketer, PR agent. Do you feel that this independence liberates your creativity, or the opposite—takes away time that you could have spent writing songs?

Oh yes, it’s a real double-edged sword! I find that I can achieve the work of a manager, marketer, PR agent so quickly now with all the tools that are out there- Canva is seriously my best friend, so I don’t mind that side of the business. However, if you asked me how much time I actually spend singing and playing guitar each week, the answer would be ‘not as much as I’d like’, which is sad as I do call myself a ‘singer’! I spend far too much time curating social media content and crafting TikToks and assets which I guess is a necessary evil but it does suck. I do worry that it takes up time I could have spent writing songs but the reality is that for me, writing songs is easy and takes minutes, it’s the production that takes me ages! The process of writing a hook/chorus for example is usually something that will come into my head fully formed whilst I’m doing something boring and mandraulic like hoovering or ironing (I know- rock and roll) and then it’s just a question of singing it into my laptop or phone. Simple. Then I have an entire meltdown each time because I realise how much effort is gonna be required to produce up the demo and give it the right sound. I am very slow to produce and even with Jim on ‘When The Good Goes Bad’ we spent minutes finishing writing the song but days on the production. I’m a real perfectionist and I have ADHD so it’s easy for me to slip into a hyperfocus coma and spend two days just listening to drum sounds!

You call your music “grown-up pop,” and that’s an interesting definition. When did you realize that you wanted to make pop for adults? When did you feel that you’d outgrown simpler forms of pop songwriting?

I think I have personally grown up a lot in the last couple of years and really understand who I am and am at peace with who I am, so that utterly defines the music I put out, hence the ‘grown up pop’ tag. I think more and more people are actively seeking out more sophisticated pop music these days and I would be amazed if I appeal to kids. My demographic have grown with me and are very much a similar age to me or thereabouts, so it just works! Clever, witty, mature pop is where my heart is at. Look at Lily Allen- West End Girl is like a musical- a thread that goes all the way through the album like that is so clever yet hard to achieve and she makes it look effortless. I think mainstream pop is actually far more grown up than it ever was- Sabrina, Charli, Taylor and lyrically so much more intelligent which is great and raises the bar.

You performed on the Christmas Day special for BBC Woman’s Hour at the end of 2024. Many people know that this is a program with a specific audience, with a particular context. Then comes “When The Good Goes Bad”—a dark electropop ballad. How do you even switch between these different spaces? Does anything change in how you approach your songs when you know you’ll be performing them in such different contexts?

I think versatility has been the key to my success as an artist. It isn’t really by design, I just happen to be interested in and good at lots of different things and I don’t like to be pigeon-holed. I think the worst thing someone could say to me about a new album or song of mine is ‘that’s exactly what I expected it to sound like!’. I like to jump between light and shade because that’s real. We are never just one thing and my own life couldn’t be more up and down! I try not to think about the different contexts I will perform songs in and focus more on getting the emotion and the story out.

We’ve been talking all about heartbreak here, about dark ballads, about when the good turns bad. But let’s go in a different direction for a second. Tell me—what’s the most beautiful, most real thing that’s happened to you in love? That moment you remember in every detail—where you were, what was playing, how it smelled, what you felt. What do you return to in your head when you’re feeling terrible and need to remember that love can actually be good?

Oh that’s definitely a tough one! I do remember my very first boyfriend – my childhood sweetheart – saying something to me one night in his car and it was so beautiful and has stayed with me for 30 years. My mum had been having a go at me- she was a difficult lady- and I was crying and he’d picked me up in his car and it was raining- real epic stuff- and he was reassuring me and being so lovely and I wasn’t used to that so I said, ‘why do you put up with me?’ or some other very insecure, very teenage comment- I don’t remember that part, but he turned to me and sort of grabbed me -nicely- to get some sense into me and said, ‘I don’t just love you, I’m in love with you’ and wow, I can still feel that right now. We were so young but he was so sure of his feelings, particularly about me. I understood then what love really meant and it is an action- a doing word. I can see that shitty old car of his, the rain coming down, his hair in that ’90’s curtains style. I’m sure Pearl Jam was playing on the CD player…. To be honest, I have had love in my life- a few times- I feel pretty lucky to have experienced it more than once and that always reassures me. I’m not scared of ending up alone.

Your tracks have hit the top of the charts in Japan. That’s insane. Japan is a different universe. Most British artists can’t even dream of that. Tell me, how did this even happen? And most importantly—what’s next? It’s February 2026 now, you’re releasing a single. What are you preparing? A new album? Where are you heading after all this success?

I don’t know if that is true re Japan! I know my imports do well out there but I don’t think I have topped the charts?! That said, I love Japan and want to be ‘big in Japan’. I’m going back there this summer to do more gigs and build my community out there. I am working on a few things musically right now- hoping to release my old Warner album ‘Addicted’ on vinyl and CD, I’m going to release one more single from ‘Swim’ and then I’m already working on album 4! I must be insane- this is the worst time in the history of the music business, but it almost feels like I have no choice but to do it- music is a compulsion for me.

I’ve also just started live streaming my gigs on Lounges.tv which is a new Simon Cowell backed platform for artists to be able to build their community via livestreams and I am really intrigued by that as getting gigs is becoming more and more expensive in London where I am based. I really want to make 2026 the year I do more live performances and festivals so watch this space and of course, you can find me on lounges.tv/profile/alexisstrum

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