[Cover photo credit to Ilan Zerrouki]

Techno Pop artist Sam Quealy has shared new single + video “By My Side” featuring Marlon Magnée from the band La Femme, off her upcoming sophomore album, Jawbreaker, out January 30, 2026. The track is a “gallivanting love story.”

Quealy explains that the single is about:

…finding someone who makes life feel brighter and less lonely, sharing a deep connection that turns the chaos of the world into a beautiful ride together.

The accompanying video matches the “Euro-disco sound” of the track as Quealy and Magnée, wear 70’s styles, and perform in a vintage recording studio. 

Quealy has performed at major festivals including Solidays, Dour, Fusion, Flow, and the Montreux Jazz Festival, while touring internationally as a support act for Yelle and La Femme.

In a departure from the Techno-Pop of her previous album, Blonde Venus, Quealy has turned to an abundant use of live instrumentation for Jawbreaker, and album that covers “lust, longing, and self-celebration.”

Quealy says of the album:

With the first album there was a lot of discovery and experimentation—I wasn’t following any rules, and it feels very niche and underground. This album still has the nihilistic feel of the first record, but there’s a lightness and positivity as well. When there’s so much depressing news all the time, I wanted to create something that makes everyone feel good.

Upon moving to Paris in the late 2010s, Quealy worked as a showgirl at a cabaret but soon pursued her lifelong love of music.

She recalls:

At first I was mostly experimenting with writing lyrics, but during Covid I picked up guitar, learned piano, learned how to use Ableton. It felt like I was able to take everything I loved—music, dance, performance art, fashion—and pour it all into one medium where there’s no rules or limits on what you can create.