Oh snap! You're watching Rich TVX News Network! The source of raw, breaking news.

Sigrid – Sucker Punch

In the six years building up to the release of her debut album, Norwegian singer Sigrid has built up a musical CV so polished that itโ€™s almost suspicious. Winning BBC Sound of 2018, debuting at Glastonbury, impressing TV audiences globally and collecting over 500 million listens on streaming platformsโ€ฆ the list goes on and on, with the singerโ€™s profile only set to rise higher with support slots for George Ezra and Maroon 5 in the diary. With all this before even releasing an LP, it feels like the music industry is holding its breath to see if Sigrid can really live up to the almost insurmountably high expectations it has placed on her.



Undoubtedly, the answer is yes, as Sigrid has created an eclectic, original yet incredibly memorable first record. Carving out her own sonic niche in a crowded space, Sucker Punch has a lot of songs which stand out on first listen, not blurring into one, with distinct themes and differentiation.

Opener โ€˜Sucker Punchโ€™ has already received a lot of airtime but I wanted to highlight it as itโ€™s such a strong first track. This is just a really meticulously-engineered and perfected pop song, a real mix of personality with precise ingredients to ensure this songโ€™s earworm qualities are as finely-tuned as possible.

Delving in deeper lyrically, โ€˜Basicโ€™ is a more emotionally fraught song, as is โ€˜Vainโ€™, which I didnโ€™t like on first listen but gets more likeable with beautiful harmony accentuating the bridge section. The end of the song parachutes into a whole new territory, with the addition of extensive synths creating a powerful ending. These more pared-back, quiet songs showcase Sigridโ€™s versatility and hint at more to come.

The beautiful โ€˜Level Upโ€™ is another high point, gently understated but with a knowing undertone behind the words. I love how the introduction of violins complements the echoing acoustic guitar and the unpredictable melody in the chorus creates an element of nonchalance. The way the words and music work together in this song is rare to come across, and hard to explain, but the relationship is intimate and cohesive like two sides of the same coin, making for exceptional artistry.

At the risk of quite a basic comparison, โ€˜Sight of Youโ€™ comes across like a sequel to ABBAโ€™s โ€˜Super Trouperโ€™, with similar instrumentation and theme. I love the upbeat abandon that comes along with this song, itโ€™s very different to the rest of the albumโ€™s content but it works really well. Another strong track is โ€˜Donโ€™t Kill My Vibeโ€™, which was one of the pre-released songs from the record, deeply wrought in feeling and delivered exceptionally with a steady build of layered sounds.

Itโ€™s a great debut, but itโ€™s not perfect; for me, โ€˜Strangersโ€™ is a real dampener. As Sigridโ€™s most commercially successful song to date, and her first top ten UK chart hit, its prominence over other songs surprises me, as I find the chorus a little irritating. In the same vein, โ€˜Business Dinnersโ€™ is diminished by heavy-handed production which is too aggressively interruptive.

The final track, โ€˜Dynamiteโ€™, provides a perfect close to Sigridโ€™s opening statement of an album, quietly introspective and peaceful to listen to. Overall, this is one of the best pop records Iโ€™ve heard in a long while. Imbued with a defiant refusal to succumb to external pressure or fall into the well-worn paths of similar artists who have trodden this road in the past, Sigrid has created a truly unique and recognisable debut record which Iโ€™m sure is a sign of spectacular things to come.

![106069](http://dis.resized.images.s3.amazonaws.com/540×310/106069.jpeg)

Ads

StoneBridge & Crystal Waters
Be Kind (StoneBridge & Lilโ€™ Joey VIP Mix)
Keep up to date on current Rich X Search news feed
Search Rich X Wiki Search directly
More than just the search engine
Find images related to what you typed
Entertain yourself watching Rich X Search Video
More about the Rich X Search metaverse plans
DaYeene โ€“ โ€œAnd It Hurts
StoneBridge ft Elsa Li Jones - Somebody

leave a reply