Album Review: Poppy, I Disagree

Poppy’s third album is a bubblegum pop/metal mash-up, shot through with a heap of insanity. And if you don’t like the singer’s new direction, she’ll gladly tell you: “I disagree / With all of the reasons you’re mad at me”.

For the uninitiated, Poppy – real name Moriah Pereira – shot to fame in 2014 with her strange videos as an eerie, bot-like persona parodying fame and the creative industries. As well as maintaining her channel, since then, the LA-based singer has released two LPs and toured the world. A quick glance at her album art to date reveals consistent undertones of J-Pop and sing-song melodies, but she’s taken a dark, metallic turn in 2020.

Take ‘Anything Like Me’ – at times it’s reminiscent of that Billie Eilish song, before suddenly erupting into a distorted, blood-curdling guitar freak-out. Just in case you were thinking of pigeonholing her, however, there’s also a soft acoustic bridge. What the hell is going on in Poppy’s mind? We may never know, but hop along for the ride anyways – the track is genuinely intriguing.

Album closer ‘Don’t Go Outside’ brings us a level deeper into the mind of Poppy: in a sing-song melody over piercing electric guitars, she asserts, “You can be anyone you want to be.” Despite the record’s occasional dark turns, maybe she’ll be okay after all.

6.5/10
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