Browsing Tag

Feminist Pop

Isla de Luca redefined the femme fatale archetype in her provocatively liberating alt-pop hit, I Already Am One

Posted on 16 February 2024
https://soundcloud.com/isladeluca/i-already-am-one/s-2uIRmKUEKZz?si=e1ec91131191412ab7cbbe435a4c3782&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

Isla de Luca riotously fucked the gender binary with the launch of her debut alt-pop single, I Already Am One. With the rock licks augmenting the pop hooks and injecting them with adrenaline, the NYC icon staked a serious claim in the pop domain. After ensnaring just about everyone who crosses her on TikTok and Instagram, she’s more than ready to demurely dominate the airwaves with her scintillating synthesis of electronica, pop and rock.

While trad wives are falling over themselves to appease the male gaze as their sole aim in life, Isla de Luca has asserted herself as an indomitable queer pop icon with the refrain “I don’t need a rich man, I already am one”. It’s a subversive twist to die for and to live for. Through her mission to rip up the exploitative tropes around desire and empower others to embrace their provocative power, she stands just as tall as Kathleen Hanna in the feminist landscape.

If you thought femme fatales were all about seduction, feel the vindication cascading from Isla de Luca’s flawlessly electrifying vocal lines and realise the liberation of living as the archetype in their villain era.

For fans of MARINA, Paramore and Sophie, this single isn’t one you want to sleep on.

I Already Am One will be available to stream from February 16. Stream it and follow Isla de Luca on all major platforms via this link.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Washington pop singer-songwriter, Marilyn Hucek, advocates for solidarity in her latest single, Girls Girl.

Posted on 25 February 2022
Marilyn Hucek

To celebrate Women’s History Month in 2022, the Washington-based pop singer-songwriter Marilyn Hucek is set to release her emboldening EDM pop track, Girls Girl, which advocates for solidarity between women and forces toxic competitiveness into question.

You only need to look at selfies from popular Instagram accounts to know just how much energy is spent tearing each other apart – energy which could just as easily be used to build each other up. Girls Girl definitively proves how sweet solidarity can be; it was 100% written, performed, recorded and produced by a collective of aurally talented women to deliver a middle finger to the misogyny in the industry and any woman revelling in the downfall of another.

Unlike most of the pop tracks on the airwaves, nothing about Girls Girls feels plasticised. Every ounce of fiery intent in the vocals resonates organically and finds enough synergy with the dark pop instrumentals to make an earworm out of the single. Sonically, it is Peaches meets Gwen Stefani, but Hucek’s personality is vibrant in its matchless autonomy.

Girls Girl is due for official release on February 25th, 2022. Check out Marilyn Hucek via her website, Spotify, SoundCloud and Instagram.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Estella Dawn unshackles herself from misogynistic policing in her fiercely demure pop track Vixen.

Posted on 5 November 2021
Estella Dawn

Estella Dawn’s latest fierce pop fix, Vixen, captures the artist’s frustration with the social policing of sexuality and personality while advocating for self-acceptance through moody hooks, sultry vocals, and an unbridled demure attitude.

In the very same way that Kathleen Hanna did by writing ‘Slut’ across her chest while performing topless, Estella acknowledges the constant sexualisation of her body and beats the misogynists to the mark by acknowledging her sexual agency and power first.

Every woman needs to hear this. Screw it; every man needs to hear this and realise that women are so much more than living archetypes that exist to fit within your narrow, cliched, suffocating perceptions of who we should be and how we should act.

Vixen is available to stream from November 5th. Check it out on Spotify or Estella Dawn’s official website.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Jasi Bella calls time on the perpetuation of damaging ‘crazy ex’ archetypes in her latest dance-pop track.

Posted on 18 June 2021
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoBHqzklCvM

Swedish pop artist Jasi Bella’s latest single, Your Ex, is a straight-up attack on the perpetuation of the ‘crazy ex’ stereotyping. Not only is it a warning that women can see through the wool being pulled over our eyes when you tell us why your last relationship was a disaster. It is also an emboldening track that inspires solidarity between women that suffer the same narrators that twist the story to play the victim of the ‘insanity’ they inspired.

With rates of domestic violence skyrocketing as a result of the lockdowns, we’re more conscious of the dangers of toxic relationships than ever; conversations, such as what you will hear in Your Ex, are vital to have. The vibrant pop track deserves to go viral.

Your Ex released on June 4th; you can check it out for yourselves by heading over to YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Ella has released her fiercely redemptive Pop single “Oops Oops”

Posted on 20 August 2020
https://soundcloud.com/missellamusic/oops-oops

If you like your Pop artists unapologetically fierce, breaking artist Ella has all the empowering attitude you could possibly ask for in her latest release “Oops Oops”.

If you turn on the radio, you’ll hear plenty of artists offering lovelorn introspection and abrasively sweet love songs and little else in between. Ella took a very different approach to contemporary Pop. Her redemptive single is a powerful reminder to women that you don’t need to turn into a snappish dolt every time you’ve been romantically screwed over. While we can’t exactly condone financial exploitation, we make no bones about celebrating this stellar radio-ready feat of Pop.

You’d be hard-pressed to find Pop hooks which are sharper than the ones that will grab you in the 90s-inspired perennial Pop earworm.

You can check out Oops Oops for yourselves by heading over to SoundCloud now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast.

La Roboká – Incel Boy: An Unapologetically Avant-Garde Aural Assault on Incel Culture

Posted on 31 January 2020

Ever since La Roboká appeared on our radars in 2019 with their unapologetically Avant-Garde Alt Pop single “Misophonic”, we’ve eagerly awaited the expressive ingenuity which would undoubtedly follow.

And sure enough, the Berlin-based artist didn’t disappoint with their single “Incel Boy” which dropped on January 31st. If Amanda Palmer and Peaches did a collaborative record, I can’t imagine the results would be far from what you can expect if you hit play on the evocatively sobering track.

If you’re lucky enough to have never previously heard the term ‘incel’ before or encountered one for yourselves, be prepared for a drastic awakening. It’s so much more than your average “friendzone” toxic diatribe women deal with constantly. It’s innocent women, randomly picked out, assaulted, and killed just because men can’t deal with their odious expectation and frustration.

Throughout the track I was torn between absolute awe for La Roboká’s dynamic classical soprano vocal range, acknowledging the empowering chills that creep across me every time I listen to viscerally defiant music and feeling the existentialism over Incels being a very real problem in our society.

I’m not ashamed to say that hearing La Roboká’s vocals whilst seeing real-life CCTV footage of men randomly assaulting women in public had me in tears. Yet, the momentously entrancing beats fed me the disgust-instilled anger which is necessary to feel if Incel Culture is ever going to be stamped out. It’s not going to magically erase itself overnight. It’s going to take having a long and hard look at the way women are objectified and then expected to open their legs on demand just like in the films. THANKS HOLLYWOOD.

In the artist’s own words, here’s what inspired the track:

“With the rise of the Involuntary Celibates (Incels) the Berlin-based alt-pop duo La Roboká is setting a statement against violence and hatred towards women. The new music video “Incel Boy“ is an emotional rollercoaster that lashes out against cowardly attacks from the comfort of the living room, the quick hunt for a cheap laugh that spreads hatred and eventually spills over into the real-life as brutality against women.”

You can check out the official music video for Incel Boy for yourselves via YouTube.

Keep up to date with the latest releases from La Roboká via Facebook.