Passion (PinkPantheress song)

A snippet of "Passion" was posted to PinkPantheress's TikTok account before the full song was released.[1] "Passion" was produced by IZCO and Jkarri, and released through Parlophone Records on 1 July 2021.[2] It runs for two minutes and 18 seconds, and begins with a finger-picked acoustic guitar, and is then backed by synths and a jungle breakbeat, the latter of which begins in the first chorus.[3] The song also has influences of R&B.[4] On it, PinkPantheress sings in an "airy",[4] "whisper-like" tone about the "intimate details of her life",[3] including being abandoned by her friends and family and looking for somewhere to stay the night.[1] She described the undertones of the song as "fairly sad".[5]

Cat Zhang of Pitchfork described PinkPantheress as sounding "listless", "misunderstood", and "slightly dazed, tiptoeing gently through reality" on the song.[1] Beats Per Minute called "Passion" PinkPantheress's "most confessional track yet", noting her "sing-song insouciance" on the song, while NME's Isaac Chiew wrote that the song "paints a haunting portrait of loneliness".[2][6] The visualizer and single cover for the song is of the default wallpaper for Windows XP.[5]

Vanessa Handy of NPR remarked that, on "Passion", PinkPantheress "rises above her past" and "cross[es] into a new dimension with the complex, futuristic sound she's embraced".[3] NME's Isaac Chiew wrote that "Passion" "cements [PinkPantheress's] versatility as a songwriter", with Pitchfork's Cat Zhang calling "Passion" "angelic" and "another lovely release" from PinkPantheress.[6][1] Robin Murray of Clash described it as "a drifting slice of imperious alt-pop" with a "patient sense of introversion" on which PinkPantheress "us[es] both inner and outer space to her advantage".[7]

"Passion" peaked at number 73 on the UK Singles Chart.[8] It also peaked at number 30 on Billboard's Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart.[9]