Olivia Rodrigo - "you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love" (2026)

Olivia Rodrigo needs no introduction at this point, being one of the biggest pop stars of the 2020's so far. I jumped onboard the hype train with her previous record GUTS in 2023, which was an immense improvement on her already pretty decent debut. That record saw her build on the pop punk and piano pop sound with more mature and more intricate writing, alongside exploration of other genres like indie rock and new wave. I did and do still think GUTS is such a fun and cathartic pop record; and I really felt like it was the beginning of something special for Olivia. The anticipation for where she would go next would only grow for me and many others over the next few years, really bubbling over at her Glastonbury headline slot last year when she brought out The Cure's Robert Smith to duet a couple of their most lovestruck and euphoric tunes. (Olivia basically won the indie cred game there).

So it's no surprise that lead off single, drop dead, gives off massive The Cure vibes. The euphoric ecstasy of discovering new love described in the lyrics and soaring post-chorus synth line are so Just Like Heaven or High; but The Cure is not the only touchpoint that the song draws from. The rambly, talk-sung second verse evokes Wolf Alice's Don't Delete The Kisses, and Dan Nigro's glitzy 80's production recalls his work with Olivia's close friend Chappell Roan. I'll admit that the song took a little while to grow on me, as the dense, wordy chorus was not as immediately catchy as some of her previous singles; but as I sunk my teeth into it, the song is great pop song and a great opening track to set up the album and it's narrative. That narrative, as you could probably guess from the record's title, is not just the tale of falling in love and living happily ever after; but the breakdown and unravelling of the relationship as things start to fall apart. The sequencing of the album splits it into two halves: the opening 'girl so in love' and the second half titled 'you seem pretty sad'. This gives the record a really strong narrative and throughline that sets it a cut above Olivia's previous albums before a note has even been played.

What is really clever about yspsfagsil (that's an acronym and a half!) is that the cracks and eventual demise of this relationship is foreshadowed in the lovesongs of the opening half. drop dead features little hints of obsessive infatuation in the lyrics and the whole vibe of the song is so sickly sweet that it's a little uncanny. The following track, stupid song, follows a similar path. The song starts as a stripped back piano ballad, but just builds an builds the layers and intensity to a point that feels once again a little obsessive and a tad unhinged. Olivia's run-on vocal delivery and the immense dynamics of the song remind me of the best (and most melodramatic) Lorde tracks. It's only when we get to the following track, honeybee, that the album finally lets up for a little bit of a breather. The song is a slowburning, lovesick piano ballad. On a musical level it is probably the most straightup and least interestingly presented song on the album, but lyrically and vocally, Olivia's performance really commands your attention. The topic of feeling completely inseparable without your partner and couldn't even imagine how you'd cope without them around again foreshadows the future unravelling of the relationship when it is placed this early on within the album's narrative.

The melodrama eases up a little with the next two tracks, being a duo of pop-era Cure infused new wave and jangle pop tunes that on the surface, present themselves as a lot more fun and carefree than the manic intensity of the first few tracks. However peeling back the layers and reading into the lyrics further pushes the narrative and throughline of the record. maggots for brains, not only being so damn catchy (this kind of power pop / jangle pop song is like crack to me), also has really clever and detailed lyrics about feeling lost and directionless when your significant other is apart from you for whatever reason. Quite literally like having maggots for brains. u + me = <3 is the closest the album gets to pure, unadulterated romance; and probably the only track that can be taken out of the narrative and genuinely be spun as an entirely positive love song. It doesn't quite hit the pure, unbridled ecstasy of  Just Like Heaven or Friday I'm in Love, but Olivia gives it her best shot and gets pretty close in my opinion.

The last two tracks of the girl so in love half is where the lovesick narrative starts to turn and go sour (pun intended). my way is a sassy 2000's pop rock banger that reminds me of the likes of The Veronicas, The Cardigans, or even The Yeah Yeah Yeahs. It's a vicious and petty takedown of a partners ex, and highlights how despite how apparently in love Olivia is with this person and how she is claiming that they're a perfect match, she still feels threatened by someone from their past. The driving beat and roaring guitars give it a sense of vitality (and immaturity) that really sells the point she's at in this stage of the relationship. purple closes out the first half and really acts as the fulcrum that the narrative hinges on. The lyrics initially read as more infatuation with this person, but as the song progresses Olivia comes to the realisation that she is losing herself in her partner and they are becoming too intertwined and co-dependant. His red and her blue merging together to become purple as she puts it in the chorus. The muted, synth driven instrumental is equally mushy and undefined - and really highlights that this relationship is not exactly how Olivia has been telling herself it is on the record up to this point.

The you seem pretty sad side of the record opens up with a bang with the albums second single, the cure. Despite its name, its one of the lesser Cure sounding songs on the album. The track is more indebted to 90's alt rock, picking up queues from Foo Fighter and The Smashing Pumpkins. It is a patient and slowburning power-ballad that layers up the strings and the drama on what at the time of release was Olivia's longest song by a fair margin (and is only beaten by the closing track cigarette smoke). The song plays into the themes of feeling broken and unfixable, and that no matter how hard her partner tries, their love will never be enough. It really sets the tone for the raw and unguarded emotionality of the second half of the record.

The majority of the back end consists of subtler, more stripped back acoustic guitar and piano ballads, which historically I've felt have been the weaker moments on Olivia's past releases. However that is not the case here, as the lyricism on these tracks is stellar and leaves you feeling every gut punch with Olivia. begged tells the tale of Olivia becoming increasingly frustrated with her partners lack of attention and effort, and that the little that they are doing is poisoned by the fact that she's had to beg even for the bare minimum. less goes one step further, really going into excruciating detail about this relationships misgivings and that if loving her means letting her go, then she'd rather be loved by him less. It's such painful and somewhat bitter take on love and relationships which is often overlooked in pop music, where a breakup is magically goes from 'oh I'm so sad about losing this person' to 'well I'm better than them anyway' at the flip of a switch.

The track what's wrong with me sits in between those two songs, and is the point where all the Cure-isms come to a head with a feature from Robert Smith himself. The song itself isn't particularly Cure-y from a sonic standpoint, but the melancholic mood and general vibe of the song definitely is. The track perfectly captures the romantic apocalyptic-ism of tracks like Pictures of You and Letters to Elise. The song is so beautifully written and the two sound fantastic together. Olivia's youthful earnestness is perfectly balanced by Smith's world-weary voice, making the track transcend being a modern pop song into something more timeless.

The penultimate track expectations brings back some energy to the record, being this quirky, dance-y new-wave banger about going back out into the world after the breakup, trying to meet new people at parties etc. Olivia's snark has come back, taking potshots at the low effort guys with 'fake jobs' and living off their parents money. The crunchy synth lines and whacky backing vocals from pals Chappell Roan and Conan Grey make the track just so much fun and the perfect antidote to the sadness of the second half of the record. That optimism is short lived, however, as the closer cigarette smoke returns back to the breakup and that Olivia still has a long way to come; reflecting that these things aren't linier and some relationships will leave scars that last a long time. The track also has some lyrical call backs to previous moments on the album so really feels like it rounds the record off in a nice and cohesive (if pretty downright sad) way.

you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love is a fantastically written and produced pop album. I'm enjoying it more and more with every listen. Yes it might be sonically walking well trodden ground with it's new wave and pop rock inspirations, the tight and intricate narrative of the album makes me really feel like it doesn't matter. Olivia is in a different league to her contemporaries that she's so often compared to, and after the way this record has turned out, she could do whatever she wants for her next release and probably pull it off.

Top Tracks: drop dead, stupid song, maggots for brains, u + me = <3, my way, purple, the cure, begged, what's wrong with me, less, expectations, cigarette smoke

9/10

Little Simz - "Sugar Girl" (2026)

 

I'm back from Primavera now, and unsurprisingly Little Simz' set was one of the highlights. This was the third time I've seen her live, and each gig has had completely different vibe. What made this set unique was a 15-minute break in Simz' usual live band proceedings where she brought out some decks and started DJing. During the DJ set she played a couple of tracks off this new EP that was released a few weeks before her launching her summer festival run in May with a massive headline show in London (then followed by Primavera and a slew of other festival dates).

Much like on her previous EPs, Simz is using Sugar Girl to experiment with genres she wouldn't normally explore too much on her mainline records; this time round being trap and rage. Simz has played about with trap here and there over the years, but I've never felt it to be a genre that suits her particularly well, and Sugar Girl hasn't done much to sway me. In fact I think it is her weakest project since she broke through with GREY Area in 2019. Opener That's a No No barely sounds like a Simz song at all, with a dry as anything trap beat and vocal melody. The thumping bass and heavily processed vocals are just not it for me if I'm being honest. Game On is just as repetitive and features a very un-Simz-like feature from JT that just doesn't fit with her style. The unique semba-styled rhythm of Open Arms definitely makes it the most engaging of the four tracks her (and it did pop off live as part of the DJ set). Telephone closes out the EP in a fairly limp fashion with a washed out trap beat and vocals smothered in reverb and delay. 

If Sugar Girl's sole purpose is for Simz to experiment without the pressure of expectations that comes with an LP release, then it succeeds. But as a collection of songs themselves, it is massively forgettable and underwhelming; and I will probably never put it on again.

Top Tracks: Open Arms

4/10

KNEECAP - "FENIAN" (2026)

I, like many others, was put onto KNEECAP in late 2024 following the UK's government at the time attempting to pull an arts grant the group won in response to their activism and criticism of the UK's support for Israel's genocide in Gaza. The band took the government to court and won, raising their profile (and notoriety) significantly. Their debut album, Fine Art, came out earlier that year and when I listened through after catching wind of the group, I thought had some real highlights on it that showcased the groups unique and in-your-face personality, but they had some room to grow on the instrumental side of things. The heavy 90's dance influence on the beats suited the group's attitude well, but the individual instrumentals themselves didn't really grab me in the way the vocals and politically charged lyricism did.

During 2025, their presence in public culture only grew as their continued activism for Palestine resulted in their US visas being revoked (and forcing them to cancel a tour), and Mo Chara was charged for terrorism offences after a video of him emerged holding a Hezbollah flag at a gig in 2024 (these charges were similarly dropped). So everyone has been eagerly awaiting what would entail with the bands follow-up FENIAN. Fenian is a term given originally to medieval Irish warriors that then become reappropriated to be used for Irish republicans and later a slur for Irish Catholics. So unsurprisingly, given the title and the band's recent controversies, FENIAN is an even more politically charged and pointed record than the debut. Fine Art had plenty of overt political moments, but there was just as much focus on humour, drugs and the groups party-boy lifestyle (there's literally a track called Rhino Ket that's about k-holing on some really strong ketamine on it). FENIAN does away with most of the more ridiculous moments, and the trio bring on producer Dan Carey to enhance the more serious and poignant tone.

Off the bat Dan's production style is noticeable. The beats are grimier and more sinister, with some tracks such as Carnival and Occupied 6 having a nocturnal trip-hoppy feel to them. Carnival is a scything takedown of the British authorities for the complicity in the genocide in Gaza and the targeting of Mo Chara for his on stage antics. The post chorus features catchy group chanting of "Free Mo Chara, Free free Mo Chara". The following song, Palestine is a gnarly grime track with a guest feature from Palestinian rapper Fawzi. The song is not only striking for its sinister instrumental, but also for being performed entirely in Gaelic and Arabic. I think it takes some real bollocks to put a song on the record that the vast majority of the group's English speaking audience would not understand. But it also shows how the universal struggle against oppression transcends borders and language. Lairs Tale takes on Keir Starmer specifically - calling him "Netanyahu's bitch and a genocide armer" against a storming party-rap beat.

The manic party vibes continue into the middle of the record with the title track and Big Bad Mo. FENIAN is electric with the chanted 'spell it out' hook and dance-punk groove. The song also also samples Casiokids' Fot i Hose which is most commonly known as the transition music in the comedy series Friday Night Dinner - which just amuses me. Big Bad Mo's techno beat is less of my thing, but the propulsive beat keep the track moving at a speedy pace. I do like the little instrumental breaks that feature some hazy synths and house-y, staccato piano passages. The jungle bassline of Headcase is similarly breakneck, but the catchy hook and bouncy rhythm keep me engaged.

The back end of the record once again returns to the darker, more sinister sound of the first few songs. Occupied 6, mentioned earlier, has this chugging post-industrial beat that perfectly pairs with the lyrical content about growing up in Northern Ireland during the troubles. Gael Phonics has an off-kilter, lopsided beat that really draws me in. The song sounds like it's about to stumble over itself with the wonky syncopated piano stabs and funky bassline. Cocaine Hill has washes of woozy psychedelic guitars smeared across a scratchy trip hop beat. The song feels so tense and uneasy, a perfect reflection of the lyrical content focusing on the struggle of addiction. The closer, Irish Goodbye, similarly feels like the musical equivalent of the concept of an 'Irish Goodbye'. The song is a relatively lowkey and spacious tune that sneakily winds down the album - there's no big all-out finale for FENIAN and I think that it really works to be honest.

I will say the record starts a little slowly, with the opener Éire de Geo basically being an atmospheric intro, and the grime beat on Smugglers & Scholars being fairly standard (and grime is a genre that doesn't always click for me, so the lack of flair here only compounds the fact that it doesn't draw me in that much). An Ra and Cold at the Top, on the second half of the album, are both also fine enough but I'm not really gravitating towards them compared to some of the more in your face songs that precede them.

FENIAN is an improvement on Fine Art in pretty much every way. It's lyrically more pointed and focused, and features way more interesting and varied instrumentals to boot. There's a couple of songs I could take or leave, but on the whole it's a really well rounded record. I was already excited to see KNEECAP at Primavera, and now I am even more so.

Top Tracks: Carnival, Palestine, Liars Tale, FENIAN, Occupied 6, Gael Phonics, Cocaine Hill, Irish Goodbye

7/10

TV Girl - "Who Really Cares" (2016)

 

Continuing on with the Primavera line-up, another artist I've gone back to a few times is TV Girl. The band are fairly high up on the poster and have a couple of songs with over a billion streams on Spotify, so I'm surprised that I haven't really heard anything about them before. From their Wikipedia page, they're Californian and blew up on bandcamp, and still to this day entirely independent. Not much else on them is readily available. I've listened to a couple of their records, and this is the one that has those big streaming songs - and therefore the one I've pain the most attention to.

Who Really Cares is best described as an indie pop record that draws from a lot of 90's alternative scenes, a bit of neo-psychedelia, a bit of alt dance, a bit of trip hop and electronica. What results is a very light and summery sounding album that's very easy on the ears when I've had it on in the background while working or out on a walk in the sunshine. However, when listening to it with a bit more attention in order to talk about it here, the cracks have really started to show for me.

While the genres that TV Girl are calling back to are all ones that I'm a big fan off, they don't really do all that much with these styles other than the surface level basics, making the whole aesthetic of the album feel rather derivative and half baked. I don't think this would be quite as notable if it was a crop of really well written and engaging songs, but the tunes are really just not there. The songwriting is pretty basic and very much relying on the tropes of the genres being called back to to give them some personality that wouldn't be there otherwise. I think what has really soured my opinion of the record was paying more attention to the lyrics. They basically read as a shitty guy being bitter and jealous of an ex. There's no story or interesting angle here, and the whole thing comes off pretty immature and just rubs me wrong way.

The songs I like the most on the record are the ones that lean into the looser and dancier neo-psych and alt dance genres. Opener Taking What's Not Yours is build around a jazzy horn sample and a breakbeat loop, and features some of the better lyrics on the record about the stuff left behind at an ex partners place after a breakup, with a reference to an unread copy Gravity's Rainbow to highlight the protagonists pretentiousness. (Do The) Act Like You've Never Met Me has a textbook jangly baggy/Madchester groove that I can find myself getting into (even if it is the most by the numbers version of it possible). The layered up synths, gentle breakbeat and warbly sampled background vocals sound straight out of an Ibiza chillout room.

Who Really Cares is an album of diminishing returns. On first listen when not paying to much attention, I liked the dreamy and chilled out vibe. On the second, I noticed the stylistic derivativeness. On my most recent listens while writing this, I've grown tired of the unimaginative songwriting and the boring and kind of shitty lyrical content. Maybe TV Girls stuff will hit a little more after a few pints in the sun, but on tape it really struggles to make an impression.

Top Tracks: Taking What's Not Yours

4/10

Big Thief - "Double Infinity" (2025)

 

Next up on the Primavera docket is Double Infinity, the 2025 album from indie folk outfit, Big Thief. I have been listening to a lot of artists on the line up who's names I know but have never listened to before and Big Thief has been one of the ones I have been gravitating towards for relistens. Apparently, their previous album to this, Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You, is regarded as their best - but as an 80 minute double album I've been more inclined to put this one on as it fits in with when and how I listen to music these days.

Double Infinity is a laid back and hazy record, with the 9 tracks here layered in reverby, vaguely psychedelic production and Adrianne Lenker's twangy, mid-western vocals diving in and out of the mixes. The opener, Incomprehensible, tells the story of a car journey back from Lenker's grandmother's, where she's reminiscing about times past when she was younger and thinking about what is to come in her future. The layers of breezy guitar lines and twinkling chime bells really add to the nostalgic atmosphere. The loose, groovy drumming and jangly guitars of the following track Words give a very 90's indie / slacker rock vibe and they also similarly build to a noisy crescendo during the choruses. Much of the first half of the record leans into this soft, throwback folk and indie rock sound - perfect for a mid-afternoon slot at a festival. Los Angeles is more on the folk and americana side of things, with slow burning guitars and a chugging base line; and All Night All Day features congas as part of the percussion and pairs it with twinkly and reverby guitars.

The record really hits its stride at the mid-point, with the title track and No Fear. Double Infinity strips back a lot of the layers to let Adrianne's impassioned vocals shine through. The track returns to the themes of past and future, comparing them to two infinities - what was lost, and what is yet to come. The instrumentation slowly grows with intensity as the track progresses, making the song feel quite triumphant in a bittersweet kind of way. No Fear follows this by slowing the record right down and playing with the texture and timbre of the music over the course of the 7 minute tune. The song opens with a minute and a half intro with a repeated moody bass riff that really lets you sink into the atmosphere of the song. The track slowly introduces Adrianne's sultry vocals and noisy additional guitars that layer up as the song progresses. It is eery but very warm sounding song, like finding some tranquil haven in the depths of a dense forest.

Unfortunately past this point in the record, it somewhat loses my interest, as I feel like it's shown me all it has to offer and has nothing else up it's sleeve. Grandmother is another woozy indie folk jam that doesn't do all that much with it's 6 minute runtime even with the inclusion of ambient pioneer Laraaji on backing vocals. The jangle pop of Happy With You is definitely my kind of thing on paper, but the vocals on the song are incredibly repetitive. It's so overbearing that it must be the point, but it really doesn't work and makes the song a bit annoying to be honest. How Could I Have Known returns to a more stripped back folksy style to close the album out, and is certainly better than the last two tracks, but it doesn't really do enough to reengage me in the records final moments.

I'm glad I've given the time to Double Infinity, as there is stuff here that I do like that probably would've just breezed past if I hadn't given it multiple listens. But as whole record, it's a bit hit and miss and honestly a little too soft and dependant on it's laid back production for my taste. It can quite easily descend into background music if I'm not intentionally listening; which is probably why I've gravitated to it while I've been working, but struggling to really dig into the lyrics and themes when giving it my sole focus. I'm definitely going to check out Big Theif's set as I think it'll be a good time, but I'm not sure I'll put Double Infinity on again in full after I return home.

Top Tracks: Incomprehensible, Words, Double Infinity, No Fear

6/10

Gorillaz - "The Mountain" (2026)

Gorillaz' post hiatus records have been a bit hit and miss, with the project feeling like it lacked a consistent direction from album to album. Humanz stuck out like a sore thumb with its darker, more drab atmosphere on first release. And while musically it has aged better than I ever thought it would, lyrically it sounds so dated with it's core conceit of "what if Trump won the 2016 election" when we've had a decade of the man dominating the news cycle. It is also too long and a complete mess, jumping from style to style with no cohesion between tracks. The Now Now was a sort of half course correct, being are more stripped back, simpler album with less features and a more consistent vibe. There's some good songs on there, but as a whole it is a fairly forgettable release from the band that drew comparisons to 2010's The Fall (a somewhat throwaway side album that Damon Recorded on his Ipad while on tour for Plastic Beach).

Song Machine was a complete change of pace, with Damon and Jamie eschewing the traditional album rollout for a series of 'episodes' comprised of a standalone track built around the style and skillset of the song's feature. This resulted in the best crop of Gorillaz songs since Plastic Beach, but removed any of the broader themes and imagery the project is known for. A season 2 was in the works, but for some reason was scrapped in favour of a more traditional record, Cracker Island, that leaned back into the cartoon band's 'lore' for the first time in a while, but really didn't do much with it's occult theme and is honestly the most tired and by the numbers Gorillaz album yet.

The Mountain, is once again another switch in direction for the band, with the first rumblings of the record a couple of years ago claiming that it would be a spiritual sequel to Plastic Beach. And in some ways it very much is. The record is a big, ornate sounding album that is start studded with features, and has some core themes that run throughout without being too restrictive to date the album. But The Mountain is very much its own beast, with two distinct factors that really make it stand out from the previous Gorillaz cannon. The first is that, following on from a couple of trips to India that Jamie and Damon took, the record features a notable influence from traditional and contemporary Indian music genres - which is something entirely new to the band. The second is that the record features a core theme on death and the afterlife (inspired by both Damon and Jamie losing their fathers in the run up to recording), and such Damon has decided to dig the Gorillaz archives for recordings from previous collaborators who have since passed themselves. These posthumous features are all very tastefully included and to someone not in the know, would just feel like they were recorded for the album and not repurposed from sessions from decades past.

The record opens up similarly to Plastic Beach with a big ornate, orchestral intro. However in the place of the swooning strings of the Sinfonia Viva Orchestra is an ensemble of Indian and Indian-origin musicians playing a piece in the style of traditional Indian classical music. What results is quite an eery and mysterious opening to the record which leads into the next track, The Moon Cave, perfectly. The core of the The Moon Cave is textbook modern Gorillaz: dreamy, whimsical synthpop with a few extra elements thrown in to spice things up. The sitars and flutes continue on from the title track, and are meshed with the hazy synths and a beat switch up and hip-hop verse from Black Thought and the late Dave Joliceour of De La Soul. The track is pretty low-key, but has massively grown on me since release with the dreamy atmosphere and themes around going to 'the moon cave' as a sort of place to metaphorically wash yourself in the water there and let go of the past to make a fresh start.

The next song on the record, The Happy Dictator featuring Sparks, was released as the lead single and is the first of several that deal in the record's other major theme - that of power, control, autocrats and false prophets. Inspired by how Sapamurat Niyazov, the dictator of Turkmenistan from the dissolution of the USSR to his death in 2006, banned bad news in the country as a form of control over his subjects. The track plays into Sparks typical zaniness and pairs it with synthy Gorillaz sound, and because of that very much felt like a Song Machine off-cut on first listen. It certainly works well within the albums context, but I wouldn't say it is the strongest Gorillaz single out there. The God of Lying, featuring Joe Talbot of IDLES, falls into similar territory for me. The Track is built around a dubby off-kilter rhythm that feels like a softer Clint Eastwood, but lacks the punch and genuine weirdness that made the song stand out so vividly 25 years ago. Talbot is also doing his more dejected 'arty' approach to the vocals that has characterised the more recent IDLES records, but its a style I just don't think off he pulls off in much of an interesting way. His strength was always in the rage and fury of the early IDLES records, not this much more wordy, 'tasteful' approach. The song is by no means bad, but taken in isolation outside of the album just feels like an echo of previous Gorillaz highs.

The Hardest Thing and Orange County are a pair of songs that sit together between The Happy Dictator and The God of Lying, and follow more in the line of The Moon Cave revolving around coming to terms with grief and loss. They are a sombre and melancholic duo, with The Hardest Thing essentially serving as a triumphant woodwind and trumpet intro to the more poppy and uptempo Orange County. The songs are direct in their message about letting go of a mentor figure and the worries about living up to their legacy, and very much hit the spot - they feel very end credits-y. As the middle of the record approaches, the two themes start to meld together with The Empty Dream Machine, where Damon as 2D sings about the struggle to come to terms with grief and the desire to look for external solutions to the pain. The song has subtle Indian influences but is one of those moody, slightly autotuned R&B cuts that are always my least favourite on a Gorillaz album. It's fine but does nothing for me.

It's only when we get to The Manifesto that I feel like the album is doing something truly new for a Gorillaz record. The song is a seven minute, multipart banger that initially fuses Indian pop with Latin Rap courtesy of guest rapper Trueno, but then half way through flips on its lid into a hardcore hip-hop beat and a posthumous verse from D-12's Proof recorded when he was stranded in London with Damon in London in the wake of 9/11. The verse does feel slightly shoehorned in to fit the albums themes, but you can really feel the rage and fury in Proof's vocals that it doesn't really matter to me. The song then flips back into dramatic, dancey final section to close it out. The only song that goes nearly as hard as The Manifesto is Damascus, featuring Omar Souleyman and Yasiin Bay (aka Mos Def). The song is built off demos from the Plastic Beach era, and with the Yasiin Bay feature it really feels like Sweepstakes part 2. I really like the song and the Arabian influence is really cool, but the way it builds and builds to a frenzied climax is one for one Sweepstakes. I can say the same thing about Delirium, featuring Mark E. Smith. Mark's vocals are clearly taken from the Glitter Freeze sessions, resulting in the song following its lead. I'm fine with that, as Glitter Freeze is a really unique song and more of that is welcome - but I wouldn't say it's something new and ground-breaking for the group.

To continue with the Plastic Beach comparisons, my only real complaint with that record is that the final leg feels a little drawn out (despite there not really being any one song to single out as weaker than the rest), and I feel the same about The Mountain. The Shadowy light is a synth-driven doo-wap ballad about accepting that everything and everyone comes to an end at some point, and features some of the most prominent Indian language vocals on the record by Asha Bholse, but the overall tune I can take or leave. Similarly Casablanca and The Sweet Prince are dreamy, dreary synthpop tunes that breeze by this point in the tracklist (the album is over an hour long, so the fact that it slows down in the final leg really stands out). Luckily The Mountain ends pretty strongly with The Sad God, which really wraps up the albums themes in a nice little bow, being from the perspective of a benign god looking down at the world and lamenting in all the man made horrors that we as a species have created. It musically calls back to the title track making the whole experience feel very complete. It might actually be the best closer to a Gorillaz record thus far (Pirate Jet is a better song, but feels more like a coda than a closer to me).

The Mountain is a bit of a mountain of a record, but I'm enjoying that for the first time since Plastic Beach, there is more to engage with on a conceptual level. It's not some era defining staple that Demon Days and Plastic Beach have become, but it's certainly a lot more interesting than most of Gorillaz' post-hiatus work. It does feel like it's living slightly in the shadow of Plastic Beach especially (with how much it clearly draws from those sessions and collaborators), and there aren't really any songs (bar The Manifesto) that show their strengths when taken out of the album context. It's almost the inverse of Song Machine. That record is pretty much all bangers but I very rarely listen to it as a full album because there's no cohesive theme or throughline. Whereas The Mountain really works as an album, but not as a collection of songs in isolation. I'm intrigued where Damon and Jamie go next with the project, because they certainly seem more invigorated with this record in interviews than they had been with the last few.

Top Tracks: The Mountain, The Moon Cave, The Hardest Thing, Orange County, The Manifesto, Delirium, Damascus, The Sad God

7/10

PinkPantheress - "Fancy That" (2025)

 

Continuing on with my journey through the Primavera line-up, I've chosen to keep with the y2k throwback theme with PinkPantheress' latest mixtape, Fancy That. PinkPantheress' rise has been pretty substantial over the years. I remember Pain blowing up on TikTok in the back end of the pandemic, then Boy's a Liar really broke her into the mainstream a couple of years ago, and now I'd say she's one of the biggest current gen UK popstars. I've heard plenty of her big songs on the internet and on the radio (and enjoyed them), yet this is my first time fully dicing into one of her projects.

For those who have (somehow) not heard a PinkPantheress song before, her bread and butter is self-produced, short and speedy fusions of early 2000's UK garage and dance pop. Her songs are snappy and run at a break-neck pace, jammed full of hooks with not a second wasted. This mixtape is 20 minutes long with nine tracks, without second of empty space or a moment to breath. The first half of the project in particular hits you with banger after banger. Illegal opens up the record with a bang, featuring a killer Underworld sample against a classic 2-step drumbeat and a damn catchy hook. "Is this illegal?, It Feels illegal" PinkPantheress asks on the topic of a naughty or forbidden romance. No wonder it blew up on TikTok. This then runs straight into the equally energetic Girl Like Me that flips Bassment Jaxx's Romeo into a garage jam. Tonight was the lead single for the record and features the most 'stuff' out of any of the songs here: a detailed narrative, layers of airy synths, a squelchy 808 bassline, several different melodic hooks. Pink's vocals are playful and fun. It seamlessly transitions into Stars, a track built around a brilliant sample of Just Jack's Starz in Their Eyes which is just pure childhood nostalgia for anyone around my age.

Unfortunately I do feel like the short track lengths and breakneck pace leave some of the tracks in the second half to feel a little less developed and densely packed as the front end of the project. Noises is over in a flash after not really doing much and Nice to Know You's cinematic strings voiced synths don't really do much for me, and the song lacks a punchy hook like many of the others here. Stateside has blown up as a big radio single thanks to the Zara Larsen featured remix, but I feel like structurally it is the most straightforward radio-friendly pop song here with less emphasis on the garage drumbeats and edgy synths. The Groove Armada sample is appreciated though. Romeo closes out the record with a bit more an upswing as it brings back the tension and dynamics of the earlier tracks.

There's some great stuff on Fancy That, but its over in a flash and so I find it hard to truly sink into the project. The combined with the somewhat weaker second half means I'm not sure I'd ever really come back to it in full, despite how much fun the highlights on the record are. I'm still definitely going to try to catch PinkPantheress at Primavera (clashes pending), as she has a full set's worth of bangers across her career now and her live show looks like it has a lot of energy.

Top Tracks: Illegal, Girl Like Me, Tonight, Stars

6/10