In a post-‘Brat’ world, it’s straightforward to attract a line between Charli XCX’s culture-shifting report and any challenge of hard-hitting, bittersweet membership sounds that comes after. Whereas shades of the British popstar’s affect can actually be discovered on Blusher’s second EP ‘Racer’, the Australian band have been drawing from the same effectively of influences since their chic 2023 debut EP, ‘Ought to We Go Dance?’.
The pop-minded trio – made up of Lauren Coutts, Jade Ingvarson-Favretto and Miranda Ward, who all commerce roles as producers, singer-songwriters and multi-instrumentalists – recommit to the dancefloor on the six-track ‘Racer’, the place they’ve sharpened their sound and, extra importantly, their hooks. Take the cheeky ‘Don’t Look At Me Like That’, the place the chanted cadence of the refrain ( “Don’t make it / Ro-man-tic / Don’t have a look at me such as you’re in love / Don’t make it / Dra-ma-tic / Don’t have a look at me like that”) is an inescapable earworm.
The identical stickiness could be discovered throughout many of the EP. Excessive-octane title monitor ‘Racer’ is a beautiful cross between ‘Rigidity’-era Kylie Minogue and ‘Brat’’s rave power. In the meantime, ‘WHATEVERWHATEVER’ is perhaps gentle lyrically (“I wanna exit, I wanna keep in / I need to get delirious and do all of it once more”), however the breezy synth-driven anthem about dismissing stress is nice for setting the temper for an evening out.
Not each track is usually a banger, although. The melody of ‘Marathon’ is immediately acquainted, even in the event you can’t put your finger on it – however when you realise it’s paying homage to the kids’s tune ‘Camptown Races’, the track is ruined for good. Pair that with lyrics which are extra cringe than cool (“Crying within the membership, yeah I’m so cliche / However I’m crying within the membership in a cool new manner”), and you’ve got the EP’s solely skip.
A greater shock is earnest nearer ‘Operating To You’. At first, it comes off as beautiful however fairly typical – like a type of label-mandated ballads you’d discover on virtually each Ok-pop album. However, simply because it’s winding down, the lasers and synths begin swirling and the hi-hat kicks in, remodeling the track right into a euphoric Boiler Room-esque instrumental as their vocals loop within the background.
It’s Blusher themselves who finest encapsulate the EP on the joyous, ABBA-coded disco tune ‘Final Man Standing’, the place they sing “And I do it for the love of the game, and I do it ’trigger I simply need extra” over a driving bassline and shimmering synths. Each the road and track sum up the band’s total vibe and ethos: turning the dial as much as 10 and giving it their all simply because they love pop that a lot. It comes via in droves on ‘Racer’, the place they’ve turbocharged their fun-loving electro-pop sound, bringing it to the following stage.
Particulars
- Document label: Atlantic Data / Warner Music Australia
- Launch date: July 31, 2025
