Album Review: Biig Piig, 11:11

Considering the huge success Biig Piig has enjoyed in recent years – thanks to a series of high-streaming EPs, mixtapes and singles – it’s hard to believe that 11:11 is her debut album. Named after the angel number for divine guidance, it’s a record about finding enlightenment, joy and hope in small moments.

The 11 songs are deliberately understated – only one goes beyond the four-minute mark – but they stick to a winning, psychedelic synth-pop sound, allowing Biig Piig’s exquisite voice to float and shine. Lyrically, the songs read like snapshots, diary entries and auto-fictional creations, from an artist who’s spent most of her life moving from place to place.

With Ireland, Spain and West London all places the Artist Also Known As Jessica Smyth has called home, her 27 years on this planet have never, ever been dull.

In this constantly transitory state she finds consistency in the people she cares about.

The effect is that several key songs, such as ‘Ponytail’ and ‘9-5’, play like beautifully devotional love songs.

“You can push me out again and I’ll come back to you/ Like a rubber band, yeah, my fate is in your hands/ I’m everything to lose,” she declares on the latter in Kylie-esque fashion.

She can do stripped down too, with the sultry ‘One Way Ticket’ a masterclass in both understatement and stirring the emotions.

Also capable of melting a snowman’s heart is ‘4AM’ which starts of all mean ‘n’ moody and then switches into serious banger mode.

Yep, this is music for body, soul and dancefloor with couplets like “Only takes a sec before the drugs don’t work/ Back inside my room bathed in a blood tone light/ Yeah, and it was like you could’ve read my mind” suggesting that her partying has on occasions taken a dark turn.

Elsewhere, ‘Decimal’ impressively reveals Biig Piig’s experimental side, as she sings in multiple languages and dabbles with alternative R&B. Fascinating stuff...

8/10

Out now