Mandy Lee is entering a bold new era — and she’s doing it on her own terms. Best known as the electrifying frontwoman of MisterWives, Lee has unveiled Cherry Bomb, a glitter-soaked solo project that feels less like a side step and more like a controlled explosion. Fueled by rebellion, heartbreak, and radical self-expression, Cherry Bomb gives Lee the space to confront deeply personal experiences while embracing a sound that’s unapologetically loud, emotional, and free.
At the heart of the project is Lee's desire to break away from expectations, and channeling personal experiences into songs that are as cathartic as they are confrontational. It’s a release that prioritizes honesty over polish and feeling over perfection, allowing Lee to show up fully and fearlessly.
That energy is ignited immediately with Cherry Bomb's debut single, "Never Be Me," a space-disco banger that pulses with defiance. Lee describes the track as "a declaration of independence about shedding a loveless love," recalling how she blasted the song in her headphones after finishing it, dancing alone in her house. That moment of solitude and release mirrors the song itself — a triumphant, liberating anthem made for movement and emotional exhale.
In a lengthy message posted to social media after releasing "Never Be Me," Lee shared, "This project began a couple years back purely as a sidequest to return to the parts of myself I knew I needed to rediscover. She quickly turned into a world I had to build in real life and could no longer solely live in moodboards, voice notes, dropboxes and never ending notes of ideas I thought would only ever exist in those spaces. Cherry showed me otherwise and led me to the music where fantasy and honesty dance hand in hand, where muchness is celebrated, joy is an act of liberation, and where permission is fully granted to continuously find yourself over and over and over again. It’s surreal this is no longer just a figment of my imagination and has finally come to fruition and that could not have been possible without the brilliantly talented people who uplifted this vision since she was a just a spark."
Mandy ended the message by stating, "I hope this song sets you free from whatever is holding you back as she did for me."
Sonically, Cherry Bomb pulls from the spirit of pop rebels past and present. Inspired by icons like Madonna and Blondie, Lee blends space disco shimmer with punk attitude and diary-like confessionals, creating music that invites listeners to dance while daring them to feel deeply. The result is a sound that’s both glittery and gritty — infectious on the surface, but emotionally resonant underneath.
Cherry Bomb isn’t about reinvention so much as revelation. It’s Mandy Lee turning up the volume on parts of herself that were always there, now unfiltered and unrestrained. This is not a departure from who she’s been — it’s the spark finally catching. And once lit, Cherry Bomb doesn’t just shine. It detonates.
Photo: Matty Vogel