Aggressive bubblegum pop has been trending hard in the United States and abroad lately, and in her new single “In My Head,” Pigtails puts her own spin on the style with some interesting results to say the least. “In My Head” is undeniably defined by its stinging vocal harmony, but it boasts a couple of experimental moments that I would say make its creator more interesting than what she’s actually created here. There’s a moxie in her performance that I’m dying for her to utilize further, and once you give this track a spin, I think you’ll understand what I mean.
First off, let’s break down some of the features in the song. The rhythm in the chorus creates a bit of awkwardness for Pigtails that she does her best to straddle – mostly by getting excessive with the melody – and although it translates as amateurish, this feels intentional. It’s almost as though she doesn’t quite know what to do with her voice at this moment; whether she goes high or low, the hesitance is enough to bring the fluidity of the verse to a standstill for a fleeting moment. It’s a jagged piece of glass in the middle of a straightforward arrangement, but one that allows for “In My Head” to have an instant wow factor attached to its hook.
The music video for this track flirts with some formulaic pop themes that I don’t see often enough in indie music, but the sheer charisma of its star performer is what gives it the most kick. Though the visuals are deliberately over the top, they nonetheless sport a bright light in the midst of the chaotic imagery that nothing can extinguish. This is a songstress with immense presence just itching to be properly exploited, and that’s very, very obvious in the peaks of “In My Head.”
Despite a lot of camp that might leave some critics a little divided on the big picture here, the bones of this composition are as strong as I’d want them to be from a critical perspective, as they show off a budding songwriter who is still trying to find her way into the hierarchy of the international indie pop scene. Does detail matter in a release like this one? To some extent, but in all honesty, Pigtails has enough of the right moves with the mic to compensate for any sort of rough edges one would expect to come across in an underground cut.
Pigtails is developing her own identity right now, and as trying a task as that may be, she demonstrates an authenticity in her debut that I believe warrants a second look in the future. This is a decent start to what could be a really fetching career in abrasive pop music, and although she’s facing competition everywhere we look and listen at this point in 2022, I have no doubts as to whether or not she’s going to find a home with the right audience a lot sooner than later. Keep your eye on this one – “In My Head” is just a sample of what she can accomplish.
Mindy McCall