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
