London producer and multi-instrumentalist Rory Simmons has returned under his Harlequiin alias with 'Bite Back', a club-ready cut that marries hyperpop's fizzy energy with R&B swagger.
Featuring vocals from Atiya Imani, the track arrives as a spirited follow-up to Harlequiin's early-2025 debut album 'Even As She Spoke, She Began To Lose Her Form'. Built around skittering garage-inspired beats, tuned vocal manipulations and pulsing synths, 'Bite Back' provides the perfect playground for Imani's breathy, intoxicating delivery.
"I wrote Bite Back with Ati - off the back of an AG Cook type beat," Simmons explains. "We wanted to make something that felt clubby and sexy - but also had some of the irreverence of a Charli XCX track."
The collaboration marks another creative pivot for Simmons, whose day job as a session trumpet player has seen him grace stages from Glastonbury to Carnegie Hall alongside the likes of Blur, Jamie Cullum, Raye, Mount Kimbie and Labrinth.
Where his debut album explored more experimental electronic terrain, 'Bite Back' leans into pure dancefloor hedonism. It's a statement of intent from an artist equally comfortable composing for film and television as he is crafting hyperpop earworms—and proof that Harlequiin's sonic palette is far from exhausted.
'Bite Back' is out now. Check it out in the player below
