Today, the Los Angeles-based artist and GRAMMY-nominated songwriter Cailin Russo embraces a new era with a video for “Bad Things,” the unexpected smash that has seemingly taken up residence in Spotify’s Viral 50 Chart ever since it was featured in the climactic “drive to the cottage” scene of HBO’s hit hockey romance Heated Rivalry.

The track’s instantaneous appeal is perhaps best summed up by Heated Rivalry director Jacob Tierney in Rolling Stone: “What I loved about it for that moment was, it’s another love song, but it’s also horny and naughty. And I was like, ‘Yes please.’ I didn’t want to let people think we’ve forgotten about being horny.”

Watch the “Bad Things” video, a desert daydream directed by Colin Wong, here.

With the influx of millions of new listeners, appearances atop various charts (Spotify Viral 50, Billboard Emerging Artists, Shazam Most Viral), and the attendant viral TikTok explanation, the surprise success of “Bad Things” has served as a table-setter for a year of artistic reinvention, as Cailin prepares to release new music throughout 2026.

“Bad Things” is just the latest twist in an artistic career that has continually defied convention. Cailin’s own distinct projects — including her fiery debut House with a Pool and the restlessly inventive INFLUX — have allowed her to take her combination of pop futurism, and punk poise to top festivals (Lollapalooza, Reading & Leeds) and on tour with Shygirl and Madison Beer.

Her one-offs have had fascinating ripple effects: In 2025, her song “Triple It” became a TikTok sensation, with the likes of Julia Fox, Ellie Goulding, and Suki Waterhouse all posting videos of themselves singing along. In 2021, she grabbed a GRAMMY nomination as a co-writer on Kanye West and The Weeknd’s “Hurricane.”

Cailin was already on the radar of pop luminaries like Rosalía and Addison Rae, but with the explosion of interest around “Bad Things,” 2026 is looking like a level-up year for an artist whose marriage of pop sensibility, imperious attitude, and genre-fluid sonics is ready for the moment.

photo by Lulu Syracuse