ART SCHOOL GIRLFRIEND
Lean In (Fiction)
On the cover of her newest studio album, Wrexham-raised Polly Mackey – better known under the moniker Art School Girlfriend – stands before a tumbling winter waterfall, a visual representation of the album’s lush, liquid world. In what sounds like a continuous stream of melancholic electronica, 10 murky shades of blue emerge; L.Y.A.T.T. sounds like a shoegazer stumbled into the club, and on standout track The Peaks, skittish backbeats trip over gushing synths.
With Framer finding Mackey warbling like a sad computer over strings, Lean In’s lyrics explore, in their author’s words, “desperately wanting to stay alive for the people you love”. But among the desperation, there are bright spots in songs like The Field, which recall Blood Orange, Yumi Zouma and The Japanese House. Still, in line with the rest of ASG’s work, depression ripples through the album: it’s dazed, foggy and gothic, and the whole 36 minutes reverberate with existential questioning.
words JULIA BOTTOMS
