EP Review: Sigrid’s “The Hype”
Since her debut in the UK and Europe music scene in 2017, Norwegian indie pop darling Sigrid has cultivated a personal brand built on simplicity and frankness.
Her barefaced, jeans-and-crew-necks style eschews the glam aesthetic currently prominent in young pop stars – indeed, refusing to change herself for a cutthroat industry is a running theme in her early songs. Her 2017 breakout single “Don’t Kill My Vibe” pushes back at a misogynistic record producer, while “Business Dinners” insists that she’s more than “pictures, numbers, figures.”
Two albums and six years later, Sigrid’s empowerment anthems paired with her feminist takes on heartbreak have brought her to this month’s release, “The Hype,” a four-song EP to follow up her 2022 album “How To Let Go.”
The short collection is a whirlwind of emotions that seem to cluster around the madness of a failed relationship: from resentment and anger, to dismissiveness, to crushing grief, and, finally to rejuvenation.
The eponymous “The Hype,” released as a single in August, is a scathing attack on a lover whose ardor is conditional: “You only call me / When I've done something extraordinary.” The dance track is reminiscent in sentiment and sound to one of the singer’s heroes, fellow Scandinavian singer-songwriter Robyn, who could have written the bitter, punchy hook “You held me / Held me like a trophy.”
Although the introductory “I love its” at first suggest a rage anthem like “I Love It” by Icona Pop and Charli XCX, “Borderline” is a playful romp, but the weakest song on the EP. It seems to suffer from overproduction, with electronic effects doing little to elevate the singer’s otherwise knife-sharp voice.
On the final two songs, however, we do a 180 and are treated to two acoustic songs. “Ghost” is a deeply sad tune in a swingy 6/8 at odds with its desperate lyrics. The singer laments that she’s become a shadow of her former self who will always follow the object of her affection, like a ghost in the night – even though “it’s pathetic and I know it / but I can’t help it.”
The biggest surprise is album closer “Wanted It To Be You,” with enough faint banjo and vocal twangs to evoke Shania Twain, especially on lyrics like “You can't push water up a hill / Can't part a woman and her will.” The upbeat track is resigned yet hopeful, unsure of exactly what will come next (“maybe we will / maybe we won’t) but self-soothing (“Don’t worry baby / I’ll find real love one day.”
The EP shows versatility in genre that can only mean good things ahead for Sigrid, and “The Hype” and “Ghost” should translate especially well to her live show, where the explosive performer really shines. Now, let’s hope for some U.S. dates soon.
Standout Track: Ghost
Memorable Lyric: “Wanted you to be just like / The architecture of the person I made in my mind”
Listen For: Raspy vocals in bridge of Ghost