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Pinkpanthess, aka Victoria Walker, is greeted as a figurehead of Gen Z Pop. His songs are shaped by a screen culture and smartphones. Beats scrolled while the British singer slightly met her thoughts, as by making up a vocal note. Tempo or accent changes are made with a brutal blow. The slopes are finished in about two minutes, both windy and occupied.
Tiktok was her launch ramp: she won 1 min of followers in the year following the first publication as Pinkpantheress in 2020. The traditional music industry exhibition came with a major label and a large successful single, “Boy's A Liar Pt 2”. In 2023, she released her first album, Paradise knowsWith longer songs. Meanwhile, live shows have passed from summary affairs where the singer seemed to have accidentally wandered on stage by holding her handbag at large -scale concerts involving dancers and support musicians.
Its new version Fantasy Coming back to a more relaxed approach. Presented as a mixtape rather than a full follow -up of his album, his nine songs last a little more than 20 minutes. They illustrate ideas exposed in an interview which became viral last year, when Pinkpantheress treated the structures of conventional songs as obsoletes (“we do not need to repeat a verse, we do not need to have a bridge”). His words caused a perplexed reaction of Dionne Warwick, who tweeted an question mark in response, as a senior manager confronted with the lax working habits of a young colleague.
But the ethics of Pinkpantheress is less carefree than it seems. Fantasy brings a clearer and more powerful quality to its sound, like the latest model of a smartphone. The musical references of the 1990s and 2000s which cross his music are carefully arranged and chosen. “Illegal” samples “dark and long” of underworld, which is used in TrainpottingThe soundtrack of, for a stunned story of drug experimentation without enthusiasm. “Girl Like Me” uses the classic hymn of the “Romeo” basement to accompany verses on the incompatible romance. “Stateside” is a return to Dance Y2K on a fantastic transatlantic connection. The verses are abandoned and the bridges are burned, but the tradition of narration in song is well served.
★★★★ ☆
'Fancy that' is published by Warner Records UK
