September brings with it a tidal wave of change. Summer subtly slips into something squandered. Even if temperatures are still skyrocketing around the globe, there’s something undeniable about the shift in energy as autumn announces its arrival. Optimism about new school terms and new chapters weaves its way through the nostalgic regret of mistakes made in the haze of the dog days. If you think all of these ideas — the impending climate crisis, the passage of time, and the intricacies of navigating seemingly conflicting emotions — are too complex to address in a single song, that just means you don’t know Maude Latour.

Latour has wasted no time since her recent graduation from Columbia University: following the earlier summer release of her triumphant single “Probabilities”, Latour returns with “Cyclone”, an indie-pop dance anthem that explores the forage for forgiveness within a fractured friendship. “It was kind of like a knife overnight,” Latour opens, a cappella at first, before an up-tempo drum beat and pulsing piano chords come in, driving the rest of the track. It’s easy to get so caught up in the trance of Latour’s voice (which has frequently been compared to the dark, smoky vocals of Latour’s noted inspiration, Lorde) that you almost miss the slow-burn of dreamy synths in the pre-chorus which crescendo into the full-fledged invitation to dance that is the song’s refrain. “It’s a heat wave summer, I don’t wanna feel cold / Miss you like a hurricane, spinning cyclone,” Latour croons over the track’s bright production, finding an authentic balance between yearning and hope. This hope continues to illuminate the track from within, even in the face of a rather Gen-Z brand of ironic nihilism: “Tell you life is so long / Even if I’m dead wrong / Love you ‘til I’m all gone.” Thankfully, “Cyclone”’s release coincided with Latour’s announcement of her next EP, so we know she’s far from gone; in fact, in a recent Instagram post, Latour wrote that she felt “like despite all of these years [putting out music], this is the beginning”.