Poppy goes Metalcore, but with mixed results.
After ‘Eat’ was performed at the Grammys, I was expecting that ruthless song to be released very soon. So indeed, that song was recently released within a 5 track EP that actually served as a soundtrack for the NXT WWE event.
It’s another test in the waters kind of situation for Poppy this time around, where she’s dabbling more into metalcore and industrial rock this time which is a pretty good fit for her. However, I seem to be a bit cooler on this EP as a whole, and I think I’m going to lower my expectations on the next album if she’s going to stick in this metalcore lane. Not bad, but it’s not exactly terrific either.
I will say that the first 3 tracks here are great in their own right. ‘EAT’ is an explosive track to open the EP with the sticky melodies and tense tone that keeps building up with string sections, ‘Say Cheese’ with its grumbling guitar tones as well as some jazz interlude just before it erupts in crushing shredding and screaming, and ‘CUE’ being the most immediate and assertive.
But beyond those songs, ‘Breeders’ felt lackluster especially with Poppy’s rather limited vocal tone that doesn’t blend well with the in your face compositions, and ‘Dark Dark World’ ends the EP on a weak note especially with how abrupt the melody progresses and especially with how it ended. It also doesn’t help that the lyrics dabble on middle-of-the-road social commentary to boot, though I did like the mental and physical degradation on ‘Eat’.
I am still looking forward to her next project, whenever that may be. But I think she might need to do more than this metalcore aesthetic, especially if the lyricism might not stand up on its own or the same techniques being done to death.
Favorite Tracks: EAT, Say Cheese, CUE
Least Favorite Track: Dark Dark World