The pop-rock landscape has been injected with a fierce new pulse, and it sounds a lot like Gina Zo’s voice on “Dirty Habits.”

Her latest single, the first since stepping out of Velvet Rouge, barrels forward with glittering synths, defiant lyrics and a restless hunger for something just out of reach. It’s the kind of song that doesn’t ask for your attention. It demands it.

But behind the glamor and swagger, Gina Zo is reckoning with something deeper. Fantasy. Disillusionment. The ache of dreaming too big in a world that often feels too small.

“I think that the biggest inspiration is while I am in pursuit of something bigger in my life—a strong relationship, a flourishing career and ultimate happiness—I am dreaming of things that just aren’t mine yet,” Zo said. “I think we are always trying to find that incredible thing, and I certainly can’t ever settle for less than I deserve, so I am always looking for my dream life. This song shows that.”

The line between fantasy and reality flickers across every chorus. “Dirty Habits” isn’t just a banger. It’s a mirror. One that reflects the grit behind the gloss.

And that tension isn’t just a lyrical theme. It’s a lived one.

“The tension between what I want and what I currently have is constant,” she said. “I see it often when I do something that is successful and then I ask ‘OK, what’s next?’ ‘How can I beat that?’ Which is good and bad—I want to be a hustler, but I also know I need to appreciate things a little longer when they land in my lap.”

In her career and her relationships, Zo admits she doesn’t always know how to sit still. She chases. She questions. She expects more.

“For relationships, I think I forever will feel like my dream person is mine to have—that I won’t give up on. I know they’re there somewhere,” she said.

Zo has always walked the line between confidence and vulnerability, but “Dirty Habits” sharpens that duality. There’s desire, yes. But there’s also doubt. There’s longing and power. And she doesn’t dilute either one.

“Naturally, I have this sense of power, and also being vulnerable. I am someone who is always willing to share my feelings, but in same breath, I also tell it like it is,” Zo said. “There is power in sharing who you are and how you feel.”

She credits her producers, Grammy-winners Justin Miller and Tim Sonnefeld, with helping her translate that emotional complexity into music.

“They make sure that my vulnerability is balanced with the power by helping me remind myself of the words I am singing, the meaning and the story,” she said. “In the studio, it is so easy to get caught up and just want to throw all the power you can into it. I have to remind myself of the purpose of the song.”

Leaving Velvet Rouge behind was a leap, but it was also a reclamation.

“When you’re in a band, everything is equal. You have to all agree on what the songs will be, the direction of the music, the artwork… everything,” Zo said. “Stepping into my own again allowed me to regain an understanding of what I wanted. There is a lot of power in taking back your personal voice.”

She calls this moment “very special.” A reset. A rediscovery.

Even the recording process was a reinvention. For someone used to rough-edged rock and raw takes, working with Miller and Sonnefeld was a revelation.

“I am very used to the rock ‘n’ roll sound, which really doesn’t have a lot of ‘producing’ on it. Honestly, I wasn’t even really sure what that word actually meant per se,” she said. “What surprised me the most was how different my songs turned out (in a great way) from when I originally wrote them. This was the first time I really felt that shift.”

Zo has shapeshifted before. From a breakout on The Voice to a mainstay of Philadelphia’s rock scene, to now crafting high-gloss pop with teeth, her evolution has never been static.

Still, she’s selective about what gets left behind.

“I am proud to have left behind the girl that sang about her sexual interactions a little too loudly,” she said. “I love that part of me, and I love that I am not afraid to speak my mind. But I am excited that in this next chapter, I am keeping some of the sexuality and aggression a little closer to my chest.”

One thing she’s reclaiming? Her name.

“I am so proud to be reclaiming my name Gina Zo. This is a long time coming.”

Zo has always tied her music to identity—especially for young women and LGBTQIA+ fans. “Dirty Habits” carries that thread forward.

“You don’t have to settle for what reality is giving you today,” she said. “Your dream person, life and being is out there. You just have to keep dreaming it and bringing it to life every single moment of the day.”

For her, the track’s message is clear. Refuse limitation. Keep chasing.

“I hope this encourages people to chase their dreams, and to recognize that not one person can tell you who you are is ‘this’ or ‘that,’” she said.

That rebellious hope is stitched into the sound. There’s synth, shimmer, swagger. But it’s rooted in throwbacks too. For Zo, the inspiration came from all directions.

“I wanted to jump into synth, which was something I was always afraid of. I wanted to pick up some of that feeling that ABBA brings me every time I listen to them, but also still keep the fun honesty of Alanis Morissette,” she said. “I looked to artists of today like Dua Lipa who utilize synth and power choruses to really hone in my new sound.”

Zo isn’t naive about the music industry’s hurdles, especially for women.

“Don’t let a man make you feel less than you are,” she said. “While it might be easier said than done, learn this as quickly as you can. Men in this industry are going to try to tell you you aren’t good enough—literally they will speak those words to you. You have to remind yourself every single day you are.”

And if you forget? “Find those people you can call on your walk to ask them to remind you who the heck you are,” she said.

She calls “Dirty Habits” the “dream girl’s song of the summer.” But that dream girl isn’t just a fantasy. She’s real. She’s angry. She’s electric.

“In the world we are in at this exact moment I am writing this, that dream girl has to dream really hard,” Zo said. “To be this dream girl that I envision listening to this song, you need to take every day with stride, manifest your destiny, stand up to the man with your middle finger held high and wear the best outfit you can get into every day.”

Then, she added, with the clarity of someone who’s fought for every lyric she sings, “Life is precious. This girl knows that.”