Ariana Grande has inspired a song from the new supergroup Howl Owl Howl.
The band is made up of R.E.M.’s Mike Mills, The Black Crowes‘ former drummer Steve Gorman and Hootie & the Blowfish frontman Darius Rucker. They just dropped their first single, “My Cologne.” According to Mills, he wrote it in response to Ari and her r.e.m. beauty line.
Mills says in an Instagram post, “Ariana Grande put out a record not long ago and her first single was called ‘R.E.M.,'” referring to the track on her 2018 album, Sweetener.
Despite it being his band’s name, Mills didn’t think much of it. He says, “OK, sure, it’s the dream stage of sleep, that’s where we got it. You know, it’s universal, that’s fine.”
Ari then went on to launch her cosmetics line r.e.m. beauty, and Mills notes that one of the fragrance containers was shaped like a cassette tape with R.E.M. on the cover.
“And then I said, OK, that’s going over the line. I gotta say something about that,” he says. “So, you know, we’re not upset or anything, but I thought it was just funny.”
His response is “My Cologne,” featuring a line in the chorus, “I wanna smell like Ariana Grande and I think she wants you to smell like me.”
Says Mills, “It’s all in good fun and I hope she likes it.”
“My Cologne” is now available via digital outlets.
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