Bonnie McKee Still Trying to Make Bonnie McKee Happen

There’s no way to know what’s going on at Bonnie McKee Becomes a Pop Star Headquarters, but it’s probably fair to speculate that her plan to become a star this summer didn’t go exactly the way she wanted. Despite her history of writing number one’s for other performers, McKee’s song “American Girl” never got higher than 37 on the Billboard Hot 100 and there’s still no release date for her album. She was also supposed to go on tour with the Jonas Brothers but, uh oh, they cancelled that and just deleted their Twitter feed, indicating that they have all but broken up.

In an interview for Perez Hilton, McKee described her latest track “Sleepwalker” as a “pringle” – i.e. a “pre-single,” explaining that it’s not her true next single. (In case that term wasn’t cloying enough, she’s also described it as an “InBetwingle.”) Interestingly, she shot the footage for the video back in January and is just now releasing it, apparently because its darker tone seemed like it would peg well to Halloween. The video depicts McKee at a party that turns gruesome and also features a lesbian kiss.

“Sleepwalker” the song has a decidedly darker tone than “American Girl,” though the beat is just as catchy. McKee sings, “I went to the beach/I felt, I felt nothing/I listen to beats/I felt, I felt nothing,” referencing her previous days of partying too hard, which she’s spoken pretty candidly about. “American Girl” the video got over six million plays, so there’s a good chance “Sleepwalker” will do well on YouTube also, though whether that translates to actual sales is a whole other thing. If McKee is looking for a silver lining, Katy Perry’s “Roar,” which she co-wrote, has peaked at number one. Given McKee’s insistence in every interview she’s given recently that she’s just focused on her own music, I’m pretty sure that won’t make her feel better, but still: You can’t say she doesn’t write good pop songs.