underscores - U Review
underscores’ U channels teenage nostalgia and reckless desire into glitchy, dancefloor-ready pop.
On April Harper Grey’s latest release, we leave the pop-punk angst of Wallsocket behind and enter into the hyperpop overstimulated panic room that is U. It’s glitchy, aggressive and invasive (in only the most brilliant of ways). Reminiscent of when Skrillex had teenagers in a chokehold, blasting out of all tinny portable speakers. Oh, the simplicity of 2009.
It’s very safe to say that this album is all about pleasure; it’s about daring each other to take a layer of clothes off, wearing a shorter skirt. It’s sexy and messy and shows all underwear. Shamelessly to admit, if I listened to this album whilst ovulating I’d be in trouble. TMI?
We open with ‘Tell Me (U Want It)’, full of manic pixie dream girl energy, reminding me of early Grimes DJ sets. Feeling off the cuff, purposely thrown together and chaotic. It opens like the start of a video game; all your dreams can come true if you just click go. Then immediately swerves your expectations and slows down to lo-fi plucked acoustic guitar but soon enough it unleashes us into blaring dubstep flairs, like Kim Petras’s opening of her Slut Pop EP. I was hooked and needed to dance like a stripper. The effortless delivery of the wordy middle 8 is so tantalising and catchy; it’s now a vocal stim.
‘Hollywood Forever’ picks you up at 8, takes you on a date, gets you wasted and abandons you in the smoking area wondering how you even got there. Sensational hyperpop, aggressive hooks, California vibes oozing from start to end. If you have no desire to dance whilst this track plays, you need to talk to a doctor. Because this is it.
This album hones the craft she’s been refining over the earlier discography. So naturally it’s growing more clear-cut, as it charges through all the many genres it packs into one album. She’s the alternative pop star, one that doesn’t show flashy choreography or stage sets, but instead uses her production skills and raw creativity, so when heard live, it’s a fever dream, a sweaty underground rave you sneak into. It’s a personal introspective experience.
Then even in showing her softer, more sentimental side on ‘Lovefield’, there’s still that bubbling energy that it might just burst at any moment. The song calls back to ’90s R&B, soft synth piano, heavily auto-tuned vocals that could be snatched from a secret diary or an overheard phone conversation. So fleeting and filled with adolescent nostalgia.
‘Bodyfeeling’ is the most accessible, possible chart-topping song. A bopping, swaying anthem for the gals. To summarise the experience. It’s a callback to teenage years, to going wild and feeling reckless. It’s made me look back at what I was listening to in college and now I am feeling all bittersweet. My algorithm is now only playing ‘it girl’ anthems. Christine and the Queens, Hannah Diamond, Charli XCX, Slayyyter, The Pom-Poms and t.A.t.u. Not a bad way to spend my day. The album is packed with creativity and life, and will certainly be on repeat for a hell of a long time for me.