ALBUM OF THE MONTH: Planet Popstar/ Fancy That
ottotune's first double EP Review. We're breaking rules, people!!!
*taps microphone* Is this thing on?
Are you all still with me?
Last month, I covered my favorite band, Deafheaven. I know that for most of my current subscribers, that was a big stretch musically. The review also ended up being the longest single album review I have written thus far. Thank you for trying them out (if you did!) and sticking with me. I know it was intense.
As a treat, I have two fantastic EPs that serve as twin soundtracks to first days of summer: Planet Popstar (by Wishy) for the daytime and Fancy That (by PinkPantheress) for the nights. They should go down pretty easily :).
I love an extended play (EP). In the age of streaming, release labels mean less and less, so I find that when an artist takes the time to put a name to a release, it’s a helpful lens. In my experience, EPs allow artists to try out looser expressions of craft. Not only that, the distinction allows me to bring a freer and more open mind to the music. Here’s a supporting evidence snippet from the Zane Lowe Show featuring PinkPantheress. (Didn’t watch before writing this btw ^_^)
With EPs, I often feel like I’m listening to shared secrets between friends. LPs (long plays) are for the world, EPs are for the fans. I must say, I so prefer artists releasing songs in this format rather than slapping them on an album and calling it a deluxe edition. Both Wishy and PinkPantheress are exploding in popularity right now yet still have plenty of secrets to share across these two releases.
When I first read about Wishy, I was under the impression that they were a part of the trendy shoegaze revival that dominated 2024. I don’t know who started that but they really missed the fucking mark. To my ear, Wishy blend the power-pop of The New Pornographers, the slacker wisdom of Blind Melon, and the dreaminess of Cocteau Twins to create a delightful cocktail of 90s throwback rock.
Much of their power is thanks to the twin songwriting talents of Kevin Krauter and Nina Pitchkites. The differences between a Kevin-Wishy and Nina-Wishy song reveal themselves pretty quickly: Kevin has a love of fuzz and riffage while Nina favors sprawling and dense atmospheres. It’s remarkable that the rest of the band can switch between the two sounds with such confidence and ease. ‘Planet Popstar’ and ‘Over and Over’ highlight Kevin’s guitar prowess while ‘Chaser’ and ‘Fly’ showcase Nina’s dream-pop perfection.
As a matter of fact: ‘Fly’ is the main reason I’m writing this double-ep review in the first place. With Kevin, Nina, and guest Steve Marino credited as writers, the song has that special alchemy of sounding nearly spontaneous even though it likely was painstakingly pored over. The second I heard it, it leaped to the top of my song of the year contender list.
‘Fly’ might be a break-up song but Nina certainly doesn’t sound torn up about it. She has this disaffected yet evocative quality to her voice; it’s almost as if we are hearing her inner monologue as the break-up occurs in real time.
It opens with:
“Someday, babe, I don't wanna feel the way/
I don't need to know the taste/
Of not being with you/
"I saw the sign" I know you love some Ace of Base/
Not a stranger to your plays/
I'm just a knife in a drawer.”
The song then transitions into what should be the chorus but it’s all instrumentation. Is our narrator disassociating? Does she hear what comes next? Is she already flying high in the clouds? The song continues through to its double chorus:
“But you say/
Count your blessings/
Time will move along.”
During these final refrains, even though Nina is singing about time not standing still, I experience an awesome, near-delirious suspension of time and space that I could live in forever.
Despite my gushing about the perfections of the three minute long ‘Fly’, I often joke that my favorite songs are either under three minutes or over five minutes. PinkPantheress happens to agree and the internet will not let us forget it..
There’s a good chance you’ve heard of PinkPantheress, maybe even heard one of her songs. Pink first came on my radar back in 2022 as a featured artist on Beatopia, the breakthrough album by beabadobee, another pandemic driven British phenomenon.
Since then, PinkPatheress has scored a viral hit with Ice Spice, been victim to a (harmless) catfish by Usher’s son, and may produce the next Charli album:
And now Pink has dropped Fancy That as a victory lap. In my music think-tank group chat, I compared Fancy That to fka Twigs’ Eusexua. Two projects by femme alt-pop stars, both steeped in British electronic music, both pushing pop music forward. A key difference? Fancy That is a much more fun and welcoming listen: across eight tracks, and one interlude, there is a buoyant, infectious, kinetic energy that will surely inspire many a night out.
Speaking of: do you know how young people say, “Last night was a movie”? Fancy That* takes this quite literally: Pink crams detail after detail into practically every song, elevating the listening experience into the realm of radio play. This EP** is a movie.
*I should note, for journalistic integrity, that Fancy That is technically a mixtape, not an EP but… well, it’s just helpful for my narrative that I call it an EP.
** See above, okay?
With such a short runtime, it’s hard to single out any track in particular, but ‘Girl Like Me’ comes early and has a crystal clear example of that kineticism I find so addicting. It happens early:
“I'm not a fan of the way we're movin'/
No explanation for why we do this/
(Ah, ah, you'll be alright, ah, ah, you'll be alright)/
Let's solve this over a drive-in movie/
When you're not there (There), I smile a lot/
I feel emotionally out of a job, you know/
(Ah, ah, you'll be alright, ah, ah, you'll be alright)/
Why aren't you tired of the way you—
Let it all go.”
That ‘Let it all go’ that cuts Pink off- it’s as if the track itself is commanding her to let loose and dance her dissatisfactions away. The song’s throbbing bass and skittering drums don’t hurt either.
That party doesn’t stop there: the ad-libs of ‘Tonight’, the ‘Interlude’ conversation that flows directly into ‘Noises’, the dubstep indebted ‘Nice to Know You’ all add up to twenty minutes of pure club cinema.
As typical of my favorite EPs of all time- (oh, some examples you ask? Okay! Blood Bank, Fall Be Kind, On the Run, An Unexpected Reality)- both Planet Popstar and Fancy That feel like they are collections of musical spillover borne out of pure artistic joy. Both EPs are snapshots of artists in their bag, feeling themselves and the art they create. I hope more musicians take note: sometimes the lightest touches leave the longest lasting marks.
Thanks so much for reading, below are some ways you can help and support me if you feel inclined!
Have thoughts? Let me know in the comments!
Great writing and wonderful intro to new music. Thanks for keeping us updated on the NY/Brit dreampop scene! Oh, and coming from the old guy, thanks for the reference to the Cocteau Twins!