It’s fitting that Frankie’s impending EP, Dreamstate, kicks off with a song called “New Obsession,” because she might just become yours too. The 23-year-old Bay Area native and Los Angeles transplant already scored a major label deal on the strength of the buzzy, blog-approved “Problems Problems,” whose mix of modern synth-pop and girl group vocal stylings made the track feel both retro yet somehow of the moment.
Perhaps that’s to be expected from a singer who grew up listening to a mix of ’70s rock and ’90s bubblegum pop and holds artists like Stevie Nicks and the Spice Girls in equal regard. Another song called “Gold,” which premieres on TIME today, sounds nothing like either of those artists, but it has its own seeming contradictions: the track has humble origins in rising producer Petros’ bedroom studio, but “Gold” sounds like it should be all over the radio with its big, in-your-face hook.
“‘Gold’ is all about me trying to figure out what success means to me verses other people, and it definitely speaks to some of my worries about getting into the entertainment industry,” Frankie tells TIME. “It’s been my experience that sometimes money and power tend to leave a bitter taste in peoples’ mouths. Meanwhile I’m out here trying to search for the pureness in this crazy world—which is the gold in everything.”
Hear “Gold,” below, and catch the rest of Dreamstate when it drops Friday:
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Write to Nolan Feeney at nolan.feeney@time.com