Adam KennyI remember you! The county fair!
“Del mar county fair 2008” is the first I had ever heard of Underscores. What to me, felt like to be some of the newer wave of 100 Gecs inspirations to come out in recent years. The hyper pop genre has had an interesting 10 years. With aritsts like Charlie XCX, Arca, AG Cook and of course, SOPHIE whom contributed an incredible amount to the art pop/hyper pop renaissance. April Harper Grey started making waves towards the end of the 2010s. Her debut LP, fishmonger, where you can find “Del mar county fair 2008” brought her from the fringes of hyper pop to the forefront amongst the other titans of the genre. Many would say 100 Gecs brought direct attention to the more Y2K glitch pop aspects of hyper pop, but April was not far behind. If anything, she was coming in on the same wave. Admittedly, I have not kept up with underscores in recent years. Since 2021, April has released 4 albums, including her latest effort, U.
Modern freshness for dusty dubstep
U starts off with “Tell Me (U Want It)” which has this classic dubstep flair. It starts off as something straight from 2018 that bursts into this dubstep beat. Typical hyper pop flairs are layered across the song just enough to bring some modern twist, whilst maintaining a nostalgic flair. “Music” is one of my favourite tracks on the album. A track that has mapped the yearning of a romantic interest to the perfect song. The chorus has these lush vocaloid esque vocals that immediately occupy your head. A majority of the track is actually just a palpitating beat with hints of some classic dubstep melodies. An infectious track that stayed with me long after the album.
What I really like about U is that it’s very much a less is more album. Not every track is in your face. There’s many moments of pause between the overly excited melodies and quick beats. Underscores has never been incredibly in your face, in fact I would call the pacing of tracks to be quite tasteful.
Derivative melodies but coming from great hooks
Sonically, the tracks don’t differ too much. Whilst the melodies are infectious, they can become a little overdone. Songs like “Do It” don’t have much new going on when you compare it to “Lovefield”. Neither are bad tracks, but they compared to some of the highs on the album they stick out.
Some other tracks like “Hollywood Forever” and “The Peace” left a strong impression on me. “Hollywood Forever” being this classic club track that you could have found in 2014. Nostalgia is something that keeps coming up on this album. April has put a spin on some of the melodies and ideas that Imogen Heap brought forward in her time. Typically hyper pop albums aim for experimentation, whereas I find underscores functions off the familiarity far more. Which, I find to be one of my favourite aspects of her music. Bringing some old pop and dubstep ideas to the modern day is a recipe for fun in my book, and that’s exactly what I wanted from U.
Overall
U is not a complicated album. It’s an easygoing pop album that doesn’t waste your time. Blunt, straight to the point, and of course catchy. It’s not reinventing a wheel or bringing you to your knees in its glory, but it’s definitely something to dance to in a club. Which is all you can really ask of an album like this.
