It was always obvious PinkPantheress was fated for something more than TikTok memedom. I remember hearing “Break It Off” for the first time in April as the audio for this TikTok trend where people would show off an array of glamorous outfits or create a fast-paced montage of their day. Her ultra-glossy vocals hooked me. The instrumental she used (Adam F’s “Circles”) was practically an aural fossil at 25 years old, sure, but the song felt like a transmission from 25 years in the future, this mutation of breakbeat frenzy with the gentleness of bedroom pop.
PinkPantheress loves twisting misery into melody and regret into rapture. When I heard “Pain” for the first time, scrolling TikTok in May, I had zero clue the song was supposed to be about a relationship in shambles, with PinkPantheress singing about how she’s shrouded in delusions and can’t stop dreaming about her ex-lover. Because the music itself is blissful and angelic: PinkPantheress trills la-la-la-la during the chorus like she’s just learned how to fly and is zooming excitedly around the clouds.
From a sociological standpoint, I find it fascinating how PinkPantheress appeals to literally everyone. Not like... Ed Sheeran or Justin Bieber, who appeal to “everyone” in a lowest common denominator, anodyne faceless pop kind of way. PinkPantheress appeals to the emo rockers, the blase teens, the hypermasculine frat bros, the moms, the dads, the grannies, the Drainers. That said, I have a bad feeling this might predict a depressing future for drum n bass and other electronic revivals — are we going to hear Drake whining over breakbeats or Maroon 5 crooning over a snappy UK garage rhythm in a couple of years?
Check out PinkPantheress:
https://soundcloud.com/pinkpantheress
The list:
#20 - aya - "what if i should fall asleep and slipp under" and "Emley lights us moor"
#19 - rrodney - Jersey club remix of Trippie Redd ft. Playboi Carti’s “Miss the Rage”
#18 - aghast - “thas wut i do” (prod. lungskull & wavebird)
#17 - Yves Tumor - “Secrecy Is Incredibly Important To The Both of Them”
#16 - kaystrueno - “PRETTY B!TCHES NEVA DIE”
#15 - kurtains - “spawn”
#14 - Ecco2k - “PXE”
#13 - vertigoaway ft. schizoscriptures - “Break This The Breaking Point 2”
#12 - Baby Keem & Kendrick Lamar - “family ties”
#11 - Summrs - “put out fye” + “Blood Always Thicker” (prod. Goyxrd)
#8 - piri & Tommy Villiers - “soft spot”
#7 - L’Rain - “Blame Me”
#6 - osquinn - “and most important, have fun” / “from paris, with love” (tie)
#5 - Dry Cleaning - “Scratchcard Lanyard”
#4 - Luci4 - “dying in xxtyle (trendxxetter 3)” / “Dead n Gone” (prod. HollywoodJ) (tie)
Love love love reading these! You should make a playlist for these songs on your spotify, i was thinking of making it myself but it might be easier for other people to find/better for u if you made it