Remi Wolf - Big Ideas

Remi Wolf doesn’t give a fuck about your pop rulebook. On ‘Big Ideas’, she’s taken that rulebook, set it on fire, and used the ashes to draw a moustache on the Mona Lisa.

Where debut ‘Juno’ was Wolf dipping her toes in the waters of pop stardom, ‘Big Ideas’ sees her diving in head-first, leaving a technicolour splash in her wake. Recorded in stolen moments between relentless touring (because who needs sleep when you’re reinventing pop?), the album crackles with an urgent, frenetic energy that’s impossible to ignore.

Take ‘Cinderella’, strutting in like it’s wearing seven-inch platforms. It’s got both brass and sass, Wolf’s voice sliding from syrupy sweet to gritty growl faster than you can say “bibbidi-bobbidi-boo”. But beneath the bravado, there’s vulnerability: “Is there something wrong with the way I’m designed?” she muses, before brushing it off with a defiant “Baby girl, won’t you dry your eyes?”

This interplay between confidence and self-doubt is the beating heart of ‘Big Ideas’. On ‘Soup’, Wolf serves up emotional honesty with a side of funk, creating a breakup anthem for people who process their feelings by starting a one-person dance party in their kitchen at 3 AM. It’s a testament to Wolf’s growing prowess as a songwriter that she can tackle themes of loneliness and insecurity without losing an ounce of her infectious charisma.

Wolf’s voice remains her secret weapon, pinballing between styles with gleeful abandon. One minute she’s crooning like a lounge singer who’s seen some shit (‘Toro’), the next she’s unleashing a banshee wail that would make Courtney Love proud (‘Wave’). It’s this versatility that allows her to sell both the party-starting bangers and the moments of quiet introspection with equal conviction.

Longtime collaborator Jared Solomon’s production is the perfect foil for Wolf’s vocal acrobatics, creating a world where analogue warmth collides with digital mayhem. It’s like someone took the best bits of the past five decades of pop music, threw them in a blender, and hit puree. The result is an album that feels both nostalgic and startlingly current.

But for all its sonic adventurousness, ‘Big Ideas’ never loses sight of what makes Remi Wolf special: her unapologetic individuality. Wolf stands out as a true original. She’s not interested in fitting into the current scene - she’s creating her own, armed with nothing but a microphone and a seemingly endless supply of creative audacity.

By the time you reach the deceptively low-key closer ‘Just the Start’, you realise you’ve been through a musical wringer. But like all the best nights out, you’re already ready to go again. Because that’s the magic of ‘Big Ideas’ - it’s an album that rewards repeated listens, revealing new layers of genius with each spin.

Remi Wolf is gloriously, messily human. Get on board or get out of the way, because Remi Wolf is racing towards the future of pop, and she’s bringing the party with her.