London’s Lava La Rue Announces ‘STARFACE,’ Shares Silky Lead Single “Push N Shuv”

West London-based psych-soul artist Lava La Rue has announced their full-length debut STARFACE, coming June 21 on Dirty Hit. Lead single “Push N Shuv” is out now with a self-co-directed music video.

Our first preview of the much-anticipated album, “Push N Shuv” pays affectionate homage to iconic ‘80s new-wavers Tom Tom Club, with a bubbly funk groove that sounds like “Genius of Love” echoing across decades. Lava La Rue teamed with STARFACE producer Karma Kid (Dua Lipa, Aminé, Shygirl) to craft the colorful instrumental, accented by flute loops, old-school synths and subtle horns, with an active bass line—and the tumultuous romance depicted in Lava La Rue’s lyrics—anchoring it all to the earth.

Lava La Rue—or, rather, their extraterrestrial STARFACE alter ego—is front and center in the “Push N Shuv” video, co-directed by Lava La Rue and Claryn Chong, and produced by MrMr Films. The clip assumes a ‘70s/‘80s aesthetic, evoking infomercials and late-night talk shows as viewed through a retro-grainy lens. The clip ends with STARFACE donning a helmet and reaching out towards a ship like something out of A New Hope, with a fuzzy “TO BE CONTINUED” suggesting their story has just begun.

“I wrote ‘Push N Shuv’ 5 years ago before COVID (the vocals you hear on the song are still my 21-year-old voice) and I knew when I wrote it in 2019 that if I made an album, that’s what I wanted it to sound like,” Lava La Rue recalls in a statement. “It’s literally been years in the making and honing in on that sound and it only feels fitting that this is the song that I announce the album with.”

STARFACE is not only Lava La Rue’s debut on Dirty Hit, but also their first proper LP—it follows their 2019 mixtape Stitches and a trio of EPs, including 2018’s Letra, 2021’s Butter-Fly and 2022’s Hi-Fidelity.

You can stream “Push N Shuv” here, see the STARFACE tracklist below and preorder the album here.

STARFACE Tracklist:

“A Star Journey Begins…”

“Better” ft. Cuco

“Manifestation Manifesto”

“Push N Shuv”

“STARFACE’s DESCENT” ft. tendai

“Aerial Head”

“Poison Cookie” ft. Audrey Nuna

“Friendship’s Death Interlude”

“FLUORESCENT / Beyond Space” ft. NiNE8, Feux

“Interplanetary Hoppin” ft. So!YoON!