Luca George is ready to rip the bandages off. The enigmatic singer-songwriter today announced his new EP Say hi to Paula, due out October 24th via Island Records, and has shared its latest cut, “brOKen” — a gut-punching, sad-pop anthem that sits at the centre of the project.
The five-track release is George’s most vulnerable and unflinching work yet. Across haunting melodies and brutally candid lyrics, Say hi to Paula dives deep into the mess of love, loss, and self-discovery. From the bittersweet nostalgia of “Better Apart” to the chaotic release of “Crying in the Bathroom”, every song pulls at a different thread of heartbreak. “Son of an Angel” tackles the raw complexities of a strained father–son relationship, while “Flowers For You” closes on a note of resilience and quiet hope.
“brOKen” lands squarely in the middle of the tracklist — deliberately positioned to reflect the eye of the storm. George calls it “a song about stealing moments of ‘ok’ from the wreckage of brokenness.”
“It explores the struggle of holding yourself together with temporary fixes, knowing they won’t last,” he explains. “The repeated line ‘I stole OK from broken’ is both a confession and a coping mechanism, a way of finding fleeting stability in the midst of collapse. It’s about pretending to be okay — until you can’t anymore.”
The single arrives alongside a cinematic video directed by LA-based duo Luke Shaw and Landon Juern at ALTAR8, made with the support of NZ On Air.
For George, Say hi to Paula is as personal as it gets. Even the title references his ex-partner’s mother.
“Every song on this EP is a story from my real life, nothing is made up,” he says. “It’s all about making the world cry in the most beautiful way. I always try to be the most open I possibly can with my lyrics; lots of artists like Raye, for example, have taught me that listening to artists that are able to fill their art with true and raw stories from real life make me feel less alone, and I want to do the exact same for people.”
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That sense of honesty carries through not just in sound but also in visuals. Each track has been paired with rich, symbolic imagery — dark blues bleeding into golden yellows, broken flowers, pulled petals, feathers, and tears — all culminating in the EP’s striking cover art.
“I created the idea of a bouquet of flowers that embodies each track,” George says. “A broken flower symbolises ‘brOKen,’ a crying flower represents ‘Crying In The Bathroom’, petals being pulled apart reflect ‘Better Apart’, and a feather is a nod to ‘Son Of An Angel’. The black-and-white image of me holding the bouquet in a beautiful YSL blazer brings it all together. The colour blue is a reflection of my artistic identity and the deeply personal, emotional themes that run through the EP.”
“brOKen” by Luca George is out now. Pre-save Say hi to Paula here.
