Tally Spear Captures Life After Loss With Haunting New Single “Upside Down”
January 2, 2026 BY Emma Orland
Alt-pop artist Tally Spear returns with “Upside Down”, a powerful new single taken from her forthcoming EP Bittersweet (out April 10th, 2026 via Nettwerk Music Group). Rooted in the disorienting experience of grief, the track channels the feeling that you’re suddenly living in an alternate version of the world you once knew – a concept inspired in part by the ‘Upside Down’ realm in Stranger Things.
Written in the wake of her father’s passing, “Upside Down” marks the first song Tally completed after his death, capturing the shock of life continuing when everything feels fundamentally altered. Over tense, emotive alt-pop production, she paints a vivid picture of what it’s like to move through familiar streets, routines and memories that no longer feel like they belong to you.
“‘Upside Down’ is the first song I wrote after I lost my dad,” Tally explains. “I was really drawn to this idea that grief feels like you’re living in an ‘upside down’ version of the world you know – like you’ve crash landed on a planet you don’t recognise. I think the song really paints the picture of how I was feeling, dealing with so many new emotions that come with grief: confusion, disorientation, frustration, and trying to navigate them all for the first time.”
The single offers a key entry point into Bittersweet, a genre-blending, emotionally charged project that digs into grief, mental health and the strange duality of healing, where moments of light are forever coloured by loss. While other tracks on the EP explore anxiety, numbness, birthdays after bereavement and trying to rebuild a sense of normality, “Upside Down” zeroes in on the moment everything changes and the world tilts on its axis.
With releases like “Strangers” (co-written with Sam Matlock of WARGASM) and “Pretty” (produced by Harry Winks of South Arcade), plus support from Kerrang! Radio and a month-long UK and European tour with LEAP, Tally has been steadily building a dedicated audience for her honest, cathartic songwriting. She’ll appear at the AEG Rising Showcase in London on January 22, with more live dates (including a London headline show around the EP release) to be announced soon.
