Introducing: Dolly Doops

Dolly Doops returns with a summer scorcher. With or Without You—her second release of 2025—is a shimmering indie-pop anthem built for heartbreak and healing, pulsing with retro flair and emotional bite. Co-written and produced with Seegz, it blends HAIM-esque hooks, Rachel Chinourirri textures, and Doops’ signature lyrical honesty into a full-blown “messy lovers anthem.”

With a backdrop of live drums, studio synths and a metro ride to one last, aching goodbye, Doops unpacks the vulnerability and complexity of queer love—one line at a time. We caught up with her ahead of the single’s release on 24 July to talk about heartbreak, heatwaves, and the ever-expanding Doopiverse.

“With or Without You” has been described as a ‘messy lovers anthem’—can you tell us about the story or feeling that sparked the track?

It’s from that weird limbo period you have after a breakup where neither of you really want to let go, even though there’s nothing left to save. Like, okay, we could spend one more night together and pretend you didn’t crush my soul into tiny pieces—but the moment I leave you in the morning, it all comes crashing back down and I’m back to square one, trying to figure out how to live without you.

The song feels both nostalgic and fresh, blending indie pop with retro flair. How did the collaboration with Seegz shape its sound and direction?

I’m a huge fan of artists who blend those sounds so well—like OSTON, Rachel Chinouriri and HAIM—so I’m constantly playing them in the studio. Seegz and I actually paused another project we were working on to do a breather session and see what came out. It was a really hot day in London, so we picked our chords and then took it outside into the sun to write with a guitar. It’s actually the fastest song I’ve ever finished—writing took two hours, and full production took another two and a half. It just fell together perfectly. His artist project is very much indie pop too, so it all just fed into itself naturally. The mix of live drums and studio synths helped us land the sound we were going for.

You explore the vulnerability of queer love in a really honest way. Was that emotional openness something you set out to capture from the start?

Yeah, I feel like I’m not making authentic art for my project if I’m not being emotionally open. That’s why who I collaborate with really matters to me—I want us to build a bond so we can be honest and free in what we’re expressing in the music. I very much wear my heart on my sleeve. Being queer, and the complexity, beauty and vulnerability of relationships and love, is something I wanted to share with my community and the people around me. What better way to do that than with a great song?

There’s a vivid image of a metro journey to a final encounter—how important is storytelling and scene-setting in your songwriting?

I LOVE lyrics and the playfulness you can have with them, but also the power they have to transport someone into a scene or a moment that feels familiar. As a writer, I’m definitely stronger in my lyrics than my melodies, so I try to use that as honestly as I can to tell the stories and memories I want to share. I’m not the most poetic or deep with my words, but I think what I do feels true to the way I give myself to my music.

With this being your second release of the year, how are you finding your rhythm creatively in 2025? What’s next on the horizon for Doops?

I was finding my feet a bit at the beginning of the year, but now I feel tuned into what I want to say and put out into the world. I’ve got a few more tracks I’m really excited about—their stories and subjects mean a lot to me—before focusing on a project for 2026–27. I’m always excited for the ever-evolving layers of the Doopiverse.