recent discoveries iv
I haven’t posted an update to this series in such a long time and the longer I put it off, the longer my list of notable discoveries grew. So I decided that I would only talk about the ones that are notable to me right now instead of since the last post. One of the upsides of writing this series myself is that I get to make the rules—believe it or not.
In the last month or so, I’ve been listening to a lot of electronic disco and dance music. One of the releases I had been looking forward to so much this year was Detour by Kim Petras because the singles she had released that I was aware of (Polo and Freak It) were exactly the kind of stimulating, upbeat, and sexually charged music I was looking for. I love music with glitches, autotune, items breaking, repeating ad-libs as a beat/melody, and airy vocals. As for the aesthetic, I wanted musicians who are partially trolling by exaggerating tropes in pop music, but you can never be sure whether they are serious or not. Not all of this needs to be in a song of course, but put at least 4/6 in a song and I’m glued to it for eternity.
The title track on Detour had all six which put me in crisis mode because I needed more of that and I didn’t know how to look for more of that kinda music. The search didn’t properly begin until Ava spontaneously recommended I check out The Provocateur by up-and-coming artist ADÉLA—which is how pop music should be by the way—and I revisited WOR$T GIRL IN AMERICA by Slayyyter, when I realized that this combo I listed above does something to me and I needed more of it in my life.
Had I had access to a streaming service like Spotify (from how it was three to four years ago), this search might’ve been easier. I looked for artists that inspired this music and listened to some, but none had what I needed. I used Last.fm to look for similar albums or artists below one of them, but all I got was very tame stuff. Either the music was bland but the aesthetics were there or it was the inverse, or, worse, neither was present, but somehow Last.fm thought I would like those. I actually knew most of the “similar artists,” but they weren’t similar at all. Eventually, I tried my search the old-fashioned way: by asking friends.
That’s how I finally came to listen to Ayesha Erotica. I had been vaguely aware of her for a very long time, but only as an internet troll. Her discography is really messy and it’s often hard to distinguish what’s a polished release she released herself from what fans collected from singles or her now deleted Soundcloud whore1234 into an album released under her name. precum, however, is her latest album in EP-length. And it ticks all of my boxes! It’s harsh, autotuned, extremely sexual (it’s named “precum” after all), and exactly what a troll would make. Aside from that and Fresh Meat (a fan-made album from a scrapped project with many released singles), I didn’t like her music, though.
I also explored the discographies of the artists that sent me on my quest. Kim Petras is incredibly talented, but I consider her stint with Dr. Luke a momentary lapse in reason that unfortunately lasted too long. Aside from the fact that I can’t stand this sexual abuser, the music she made with him largely could’ve been made by anyone. Its only appeal was the sexual lyrics, but without any creative music to support her voice and the content, it just sounds like mass-produced mush. Detour was her first project out of Republic Records and you can tell. Likewise, TURN OFF THE LIGHT is a compelling project because she didn’t have to give up creative control to satisfy some executives who cared about nothing but line go up. Dr. Luke worked on it (under the moniker Made in China), though, so I have conflicting feelings about it. At least, it’s a good dance music, though.
As for WOR$T GIRL IN AMERICA, I initially didn’t really like it except for some select tracks, mainly the opener. Only after exploring her discography did I begin to see the vision for it. I liked Troubled Paradise the most, but Starfucker is okay. I can see why Slayyyter made music with Ayesha Erotica before they parted ways for good and why Slayyyter and Kim Petras keep hyping each other up on social media. They have the same queer audience!
ADÉLA, on the other hand, didn’t have much for me to explore. Her debut album, PRIMA, came out this year, not too long after her EP which had way more of a character than what followed. The Provocateur stood out to me because of its album cover—a half-naked woman peeing while standing using what I assume to be a funnel—, the abrasive sound, the angry vocals, and passive aggressive lyrics. Then the debut did away with most of that because her EP was made in anger at the systems exploiting her. I get that she can’t always be angry, but as an artist, she needs to make music that lets her stand out—not Bland Pop. Even Addison Rae, a former dancing TikToker, had a stronger debut.
What I’ve been excited for is Tinashe’s upcoming release of Popstar. Because I really liked her appearance on the B2B remix on brat, I had been meaning to explore her catalogue for a while and so last week, I finally did it. I love, love, LOVE 333 because of her voice and her take on R&B. I was surprised to learn she produced it herself just because of how polished it is. Women can really do it all! I hope her next album is not like Quantum Baby, though. I found that EP to be quite boring, even though it produced a single that was part of a TikTok trend. Actually, precisely because it produced a TikTok hit, her next project should be different. Ariana Grande’s positions produced many TikTok hits and look at it now: Even her hardcore fans act like she never put that out!
Overall, I’ve mostly listened to variations of pop, but mostly hyperpop, this summer. I can’t see myself listening to anything but upbeat club music when it’s hot outside. I need music that would play in a place in which deodorant means nothing because I can’t be showering every hour in the humid weather of my city. I need the distraction from my own sweat, so what a better distraction than a club banger? I wonder what genre I’ll get obsessed with until the next post, but whatever it is, I’ll be alive to listen to it, so stay tuned for that!
