Photo by Maddy Gower
Brighton artist Girl Apocrypha has returned with her latest track ‘MADONNA’, a perfectly punchy, dark, gritty new single that is only her second outing following her debut ‘Dealer’ early in the year. The grunge and synth-pop blend is showcased in even more stark terms this time around.
Squelching, acidic synthesisers, retro drum machine sounds and fuzzy melodies. The verses are synth-led, the choruses more anthemic, full-bodied, fierce and distorted electric guitars roar. Spoken vocals feel like a fixed stare. Lighter, more provocative harmonies are there, too.
When the big climaxes hit, there is an effortless transformation from shadowy atmosphere to sharp and spirited tenacity, making a rare genre-pairing all the more enticing.
The artist explains, “MADONNA is probably one of the stupidest songs I have ever written, and for that reason, it’s also one of my favourites. It’s obnoxious, camp, and such a celebration of the pop music that I grew up listening to and still love. Strangely, I wrote it at the same time as I wrote my, much more depressing, debut single ‘Dealer’ – it was a pretty hard time for me personally, but I did genuinely wake up from a strange dream about, well, everything I describe in MADONNA, and so I spent the day writing and recording the demo; for a few hours I was able to escape my real life and just indulge in this fun, shiny world where things were still bright and funny and completely unserious. To me, that’s what pop music is all about .”
Already carving out taste-maker attention and recently arriving on the live circuit, it’s early days for the Girl Apocrypha project, but the artist is undoubtedly one to watch.
Check out the track here:
