Released: 11th October 2019
Rating: ★★★★
Pizzagirl, boy what a name. Quirky, original, fun; just like the debut album that he has quite fittingly decided to name ‘first timer’. Looking at the song titles: ‘thispartysux’, ‘library’, ‘cut and paste’… this record could hold anything, sound like anything. Is it sad? Upbeat? Completely and utterly insane?
Answer: It’s all of the above. Every track slips on a new costume, a new character, a new perspective. Àla Marina and The Diamonds, this album takes you through the paces, experiments with different toppings, tells stories through personas that are both relatable and fantastical. Falling in love at the library? Has that ever worked for anyone?
Pizzagirl gives you eclectic, exciting sounds; sometimes reminiscent of 80s pop, sometimes Twenty One Pilots-esque with warped synths and vocals, but always of the moment capturing the current Gen-Z zeitgeist in lyrics like “I’m never enough, I’m never enough, I’m never enough.”
Standout songs on the record are ‘Dennis’, a track made to be played at full volume with a chorus so simple and fun you just have to join in and ‘Yesterday’, an uplifting ballad, basically hope in a bottle, for when you need reminding that there’s a light at the end of each tunnel.
‘first timer’ dusts off the best of pop and gives it a new coat of colour. One can only speculate what weird and wonderful sounds Pizzagirl is going to bless us with in the future. For now, he’s serving a selection of songs equally as delicious as your favourite pizza.
Laura Freyaldenhoven
