The latest queer-pop phenomenon to steal the hearts of TikTok, Towa Bird is a 21st century digital icon made manifest. Dropped off at her CLASH cover shoot by Renee Rapp, she’s already a formidable force, someone capable of stealing headlines and wreaking algorithms in a single outfit.

When we sit down to chat, however, CLASH finds someone modest, if self-assured. Towa Bird knows what she wants, and how she’s going to get it. A pure, undimmed talent, she’s disrupting the pop landscape, pouring colour over some worn-out vistas.

Reflecting on her roots, the British-Filipino star is at home everywhere and nowhere, untethered to expectations. Revelling in her newfound freedom, she’s a new type of alt-pop iconoclast – little wonder she dared to call her debut album ‘American Hero’.

As Towa Bird puts it: “I’m sharing parts of myself that I haven’t shared with anyone else. I’m being incredibly vulnerable…”