Q&A: girli Turns Rage into Resistance on Explosive New Single “Slap On The Wrist”
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
☆ BY KIMBERLY KAPELA ☆
CALLING OUT BROKEN SYSTEMS — Fearless alt-pop provocateur girli has never been one to soften her edges, but with her latest release, “Slap On The Wrist,” she sharpens them into something unmistakably confrontational. Fueled by rage and resistance, the single arrives as both a musical eruption and a cultural indictment, calling out a system that repeatedly allows men to evade accountability for abuse, assault and harassment against women. Where silence has long been demanded, girli responds with volume.
At its core “Slap On The Wrist” is about safety — or rather, the lack of it.
“I wrote it about the fear women live with every day in a society where male violence is the norm and the legal system does so little to listen to and protect victims,” girli says.
The song’s title cuts especially deep in its familiarity: a phrase that has come to symbolize how perpetrators of sexual violence are so often met with leniency, while survivors are left carrying the emotional and psychological fallout.
“It’s about perpetrators of sexual assault getting away with a slap on the wrist while survivors have to deal with being blamed for their assailant’s actions and the fear that follows,” she says. “Knowing that abusers most often face no repercussions.”
Sonically, “Slap On The Wrist” is an explosive, uplifting pop-rock single about everyday female safety and the rage that comes with being dismissed. The track finds girli at her most forceful, confident and emotionally resonant.
Girli’s newest release marks another pivotal moment in her evolution as an artist whose creative output and political voice are inseparable. Over the years, she has built a reputation for confronting misogyny, gender norms, and power dynamics head-on, refusing to dilute her message for the comfort of men.
The accompanying music video opens with a stark title card explaining that the scenes to follow are based on real stories and real locations where women have experienced harassment and abuse. What unfolds is a series of vignettes, each subtitled with the subject’s first name and age. These details ground the visuals in lived reality, stripping away abstraction and forcing viewers to confront the human cost behind the statistics.
In partnership with Cheer Up Luv, a UK-based female advocacy group, the video features a diverse cast of female and trans actors, spotlighting the universality of these experiences across identities. The closing moments of the video deliver a final gut punch: rolling titles reveal statistics on violence and harassment toward women.
“I felt frustrated at how normalized violence is in women's and gender minorities' lives, about how little justice there is about how survivors aren't supported, aren't believed, how the police do absolutely nothing and how the justice system is towards victims,” girli says to Luna. “A lot of the lyrics are about these everyday things that women do, like walking home with their keys in their fists and checking that their drink is covered, little things like that that make our lives just fearful compared to a cis man. We live in different worlds, and I just wanted to highlight that in this song.”
What makes “Slap On The Wrist” so powerful is its refusal to be passive. It doesn’t ask politely for change, it demands it. Girli isn’t interested in performative outrage or vague calls for progress; she’s naming systems, patterns and failures exactly as they exist. In doing so, she creates space for anger and validation for women.
LUNA: Thank you for talking to Luna. Our readers would love to get to know you and your music more. For any readers who aren’t familiar with you yet, what inspires the atmosphere or sonic world you aim to create for your listeners?
GIRLI: Sonically, my music is a real eclectic mix, but it's definitely inspired by pop music. I'm a huge pop fan, and my music is definitely full of big pop melodies and hooks. They're meant to be songs that you can sing along to, but I think there's a real storytelling essence to it. I'm a very lyrical artist and I try to make songs that are like poems, really. There's an indie element, I'd say, especially with this upcoming album. I was listening to a lot of my usual pop stuff, so I'm such a pop girl. Growing up, I was also listening to HAIM, Blondie, Arctic Monkeys and Amy Winehouse.
LUNA: You’ve described your newest single “Slap On The Wrist” as being rooted in the everyday fear women live with. What is the inspiration behind the track or the feeling that pushed this story to the surface?
GIRLI: The track was inspired by this rage that's been building in me for a long time at how normalized violence against women is. This Trump presidency has been just absolutely horrendous, more horrendous than anything we've seen from him. I'm very connected to the US. I wrote most of this album in LA, and I have done a bunch of shows there, and most of my fan base is actually American. I feel very, very impacted by everything going on there, as most people do here. I wrote this song only a few months ago. It was a really quick turnaround. It was the last song I wrote for the album, and I really wanted to get it out straight away.
I felt frustrated at how normalized violence is in women's and gender minorities' lives, about how little justice there is about how survivors aren't supported, aren't believed, how the police do absolutely nothing, and how the justice system is towards victims. I wanted to write a rageful song about it. A lot of the lyrics are about these everyday things that women do, like walking home with their keys in their fists and checking that their drink is covered, little things like that that make our lives just fearful compared to a cis man. We live in different worlds, and I just wanted to highlight that in this song,
LUNA: The phrase “slap on the wrist” is chilling in how casually it reflects systemic failure towards women. Why did that phrase feel like the right centerpiece for this song and its message?
GIRLI: It felt so apt because it's true. If I'm looking language-wise, I love idioms and play on words. Most perpetrators of sexual assault walk away with no consequences and they go on to have successful, unaffected lives, whereas for survivors, often the case is, they then have to pick up the pieces of this really traumatic event happening to them, but also not being believed, not being supported by the justice system, and having the person who did this to them walk free, and that's just like a horrifying reality.
LUNA: Your music has increasingly merged with your political voice. “Slap On The Wrist” is accompanied by a music video which adds another layer of depth to the song’s themes. How was your experience filming it?
GIRLI: Making the video was a really amazing experience. I approached my friend Eliza [Hatch], who runs this platform called Cheer Up Luv, which is a big Instagram and online platform. The video is meant to highlight the fact that sexual assault happens in everyday spaces. It's not just something that happens down a dark alleyway. It happens in the park, during the day. It happens to women of all religions. It happens to women of all backgrounds. It happens at work. It happens on the train. It can happen at school. It can happen in places that should be safe anyway. I think women deserve to feel safe everywhere, but it's that thing of nowhere is safe until we stop normalizing this violence and harassment. I'm so, so proud of that video.
LUNA: Partnering with Cheer Up Luv and featuring a diverse cast of female and trans actors reinforces the universality of these experiences. You also partnered with Right To Be to donate to the charity with every pre-save of the single. What do these causes mean to you personally?
GIRLI: Collaborating with Cheer Up Luv has been so amazing. With this song, it goes hand-in-hand with activism. For me, it's about spreading a message and awareness and hopefully making people feel less alone in their experiences. It’s been so amazing to work with Cheer Up Luv because of all their activism. We also worked with a charity called Rape Crisis on the statistics for the video, because we wanted to use statistics to really drive home the point that this is real and this is really happening. We also got the statistics from a verified source so they could be airtight against all of the online haters.. They do a lot of training to help people in education and workplaces and tackle harassment. It was really important to have charities and activism central for the release of this song.
LUNA: How do you hope listeners — especially your femme audience — can connect with or find power in this new era of music from you? What emotions or messages do you want to leave with them?
GIRLI: I hope they can find solidarity. I hope they can feel like their stories matter. I want my audience to realize that it is a crime, it's never okay. I hope that they feel empowered and that they feel like we give a shit, because, unfortunately, so many of the powers that be don't give a shit. Community is a really important thing as well. There's strength in numbers. There's strength in the collective coming together and saying we're not going to put up with this anymore.
LUNA: I would love to hear anything you would like to share about the upcoming album. What can listeners expect from you? What were you excited to explore this time around?
GIRLI: I'm so excited to put another record out. I think my last record was so fun in a completely different way. It was very theatrical with big costumes, high concepts, set in this imaginary world. With this album, I really wanted to bridge the gap between who I am, as a person, as Millie, and then who I am as girli. When I step off stage and get out of my costume, what do I change into? I want that girl to be at the forefront this time and that authenticity shine through a bit more. I also really enjoyed making this album in quite a different way, sonically, it was a lot more live instruments. It was a lot more thinking about the live show and having more of an indie-rock sensibility. Even though it's not an indie-rock album, it's definitely still a pop album, but it's genre blending. It's a roller coaster of emotions.
LUNA: What inspires you to push boundaries within your sound? Are there any specific experiences, artists, or moments that have encouraged you to explore new musical territories?
GIRLI: My girlfriend is also a music artist, and we're always sharing music with each other and putting each other onto new artists. I'm endlessly inspired by women and queer people. This record was inspired by a lot of really amazing, outspoken women. It was Amy Winehouse, Lily Allen. It was Tegan and Sara. It was the Riot Grrl movement with Kathleen Hanna.
LUNA: What is fueling your fire right now that’s pushing you into this next chapter in your career?
GIRLI: Definitely activism and the state of the world. I feel a responsibility to use my art and my platform to speak about things that are really important to me and to my fans. That's definitely a big, big fire under my ass. I'm also doing The Artist's Way at the moment, which I know a lot of artists are doing. I think that's just been a really motivating presence in my life. For those who don't know, it's a creative book course, but the main thing that you have to do is journal every morning. I've never written so much in a journal in my life. It's really amazing to focus on positively using your creativity. I think especially when you're any sort of marginalized person in the current world, it's so understandable to just want to crawl into a hole and hide. I spend half the time wanting to do that, and then the other half I want to go out there and change the world.
LUNA: How are you feeling in this current era of your career and what does the rest of the year look like that you would like to share with Luna?
GIRLI: I'm feeling a cocktail of very excited and very scared. The rest of the year holds my third album. It holds more shows. It holds a lot more storytelling and being embarrassing and devious online.
