Mikaela Cougar Unleashes ‘Control’
Today, August 6, rising New Zealand alt-rock artist Mikaela Cougar drops her unflinching new single Control – a dark, emotionally charged anthem about spiralling through low mood and anxiety and learning to surrender when everything feels like too much.
With haunting, Radiohead-inspired production by Tony Waine, Control pulses with tension – gritty guitars, stark arrangements, and Mikaela’s raw vocal performance laying everything bare. It’s a track that doesn’t search for easy answers – it simply feels through the storm.
“I’m not in control and that’s okay, the moment’s pulsing through my veins / I’m not in control and that’s okay, so let it go and let it flow.”
Written in the depths of a mental health crash, Control is about confronting inner chaos, not conquering it. It’s a song for anyone who’s ever felt mentally frayed, emotionally out of reach, or completely disconnected from themselves.
“I think when you’re in a really bad place its hard to make sense of your thoughts, you have to very slowly dig your way out of the black hole and very slowly the light starts to come in, and one of those steps for me was accepting and facing all the shit things that have happened and trying to let go of the fear and the desperation of trying to control shit things from happening in the future.” says Mikaela.
Produced by Tony Waine (of The Narcs), Control is the third single from Mikaela’s upcoming project – a body of work that dives deep into mental health, identity, and emotional survival. Known for blending 90s alt-rock grit with vulnerable storytelling, Mikaela Cougar continues to emerge as one of the most captivating voices in Aotearoa’s independent music scene.
