There are cover songs, and then there are covers that completely re-wire your understanding of a track you thought you knew by heart. Cherry Bomb — the Los Angeles-based solo project of MisterWives frontwoman Mandy Lee — has just dropped the latter. Her new take on Alanis Morissette’s 1995 venom-soaked classic “You Oughta Know” trades grunge guitars and gnashed teeth for pulsing four-on-the-floor kicks, shimmering synths, and a disco ball big enough to be seen from space.

And somehow, it still hits like a punch to the gut.

Released May 14, 2026, the cover is described by Lee as “a tribute to the music that raised me and inspired Cherry Bomb.” That lineage runs deep: from the cathartic soul of Aretha Franklin to the guttural, anthemic rage of Morissette herself, Cherry Bomb has positioned itself as a vibrant kaleidoscope of the empowering women who shaped Lee’s musical DNA. The trick here is preservation through transformation — Lee keeps her powerhouse pop vocals as the emotional core of the song, so every bitter, knowing lyric still lands, even as the production invites you to cry on the dance floor instead of in your bedroom.

“‘You Oughta Know’ has and will always be a touchstone for how embodied, raw and unapologetic music should be,” Lee says. The spark for the cover came from an unlikely source: a band across the street from her house that runs through the Morissette catalog from their garage every Saturday. “It sparked the idea for what I should cover for these first Cherry shows. I couldn’t think of a better song to pay homage to the artists that paved the way with a very cherry twist.”

Stream “You Oughta Know” here: https://open.spotify.com/search/cherry%20bomb%20you%20oughta%20know

The cover lands as the latest in a string of head-turning releases from Cherry Bomb’s debut run. Earlier this year, Lee unveiled the project with “Never Be Me (M★ther★cker),” a splashy space-disco banger that PAPER Magazine called “pop perfection” and a defining entry in the genre Lee is calling “popera.” That was followed by “Digital Girl,” a Y2K-inspired, glitching synth-pop single railing against the dopamine-drip of modern life. FLOOD Magazine, which debuted the official video, praised its “explosive chorus and underlying ’00s club beat,” noting that where “Never Be Me” sat comfortably alongside the modern pop canon established by Chappell Roan, “Digital Girl” dipped its toes into the digital-age operatics of Caroline Polachek.

This “You Oughta Know” cover is, by Lee’s own admission, “one of the last bites” before something new from Cherry Bomb arrives — a cherry-flavored amuse-bouche before the main course. For over a decade, Lee has fronted alt-pop favorites MisterWives across four studio albums, a live album, a deluxe album, and festival stages around the world. Cherry Bomb is the sound of her finally building a sonic universe entirely her own: glitter-soaked, rebellious, danceable, and unmistakably hers.

Press play, pour something cold, and let the disco ball do the talking. And then keep your eyes peeled — whatever drops next, it’s going to be very, very cherry.