Label: Columbia
Released: 1st February 2022
The best pop music isn’t built on the right beats or beeps. It isn’t even built on the quality of the songwriting – or at least, that’s not the only criteria. That phrase “the X factor” counts for something, after all. When it comes down to being a genuine, triple-A grade threat, attitude is everything.
It can come in all shapes and sizes – from Adele’s impossible not to love personality to Taylor’s revenge served cold – that ability to cut through the noise is everything. And Willow Kayne has it.
‘Playground Antics’ might only be six tracks long, but each and every one drips with razor-sharp sass. ‘This Is My Film’ has skyscraper high main character energy, casting everyone else an extra in Willow’s main feature. ‘Jealous’ socks the mean girls right on the nose, while opener ‘Opinion’ runs like ‘M.I.A.’ but sounds like nobody else. As an introductory statement it might be short, but that only makes it sweeter. Never dull, always bombastic, Willow Kayne is already a star. The world just needs to catch up.