“How romantic,” Johnny Orlando wrote — which is what you say when your next single is named after an insect best known for biting her partner’s head off. “Praying Mantis” arrives next Friday, the Toronto pop singer announced on X, signing off with a vampire emoji and a link for fans to click.
He didn’t say whether it’s a standalone track or the first taste of something bigger, and no artwork or runtime accompanied the post. Just the title, the timing and the joke.
The tease lands mid-rollout for Orlando, who has spent the past year releasing singles at a steady clip rather than disappearing into an album cycle. “Famous” arrived Feb. 28, 2025, followed by “What I Am” on Aug. 28, 2025 — both issued through Position Music, the independent label and publisher behind his recent output. His Apple Music profile also lists a one-track release dated Nov. 7, 2025.
Orlando, born Jan. 24, 2003, grew up in Mississauga, Ontario, and built his audience the way an entire generation of Canadian pop acts did: posting covers and vlogs as a teenager, racking up followers on Musical.ly and YouTube long before a record deal materialized. His debut EP, “Teenage Fever,” landed in 2019; his first full-length, “All the Things That Could Go Wrong,” followed in 2022. A London date at The Garage in May 2025 was billed, at the time, as the run-up to a sophomore album.
The numbers on the recent singles are modest but real — “Famous” has logged just over 758,000 Spotify streams since release — which explains the strategy. Frequent drops keep an audience warm between bigger bets.
As for the title: praying mantises are the rare insect with a reputation that precedes them, since females of several species are documented eating their mates, sometimes starting at the head. Naming a song after that and calling it romance is either a very dry joke or a breakup record in disguise. Orlando, who has never been precious about a punchline, isn’t saying.
Next Friday, the mantis eats.
