- The Ninja Tune artist embraces '90s alt-rock and pop punk for an album of big feelings and even bigger sounds.
- On their new album, yeule pays homage to early '00s alt rock and pop punk, with a distinctively 2023 twist. Their past two LPs, Serotonin II and Glitch Princess, inhabited a fantastical realm filled with ambient interludes and dream-pop production. On softscars, the Singaporean singer-songwriter departs from those art-pop leanings into a harder and grungier sound, shaking up the project's whimsical nature with a biting guitar attack.
The LP unapologetically basks in nostalgia. Tracks like "software update" and "cyber meat" incorporate shoegaze guitar tones and lo-fi vocals—think Julian Casablancas in The Strokes and the psychedelia of the Smashing Pumpkins. The more brash instrumentals, meanwhile, call back to pop punk bands like Yellowcard and Blink-182. It's a timely throwback, matching the re-emergence of alternative rock that has swept across the internet lately, with the likes of Travis Barker training a whole generation of TikTokers to emulate these sounds. yeule captures the on-trend vibe in an authentic, loving way—perhaps because they too, as a '90s baby, lived through it all the first time around.
yeule's age plays a role: the record sounds like a coming of age story told by someone who has already come of age. Although the LP is angsty, there's also an underlying maturity that comes through in the lyrics. "ghosts," both soft and abrasive, is a dead ringer for Broken Social Scene's "Anthems for a Seventeen Year-Old Girl," with lullaby-esque vocals harmonizing the topline melody and droney, pedal heavy guitars buried behind layers of vocal and instrumental loops. "inferno," with its lighthearted melody, repeatedly references how yeule "used to be," conjuring the feeling of looking in a rearview mirror. It zeroes in on feeling inadequate during a relationship, memories seen through rose-tinted glasses that no longer hold true to the present, yet were once pivotal moments. In these more sentimental tracks, yeule pays homage to the past versions of themselves and the strides they've taken since.
One of softscars's greatest strengths is how yeule channels romantic melancholy in a nuanced, knowing way. Their lyrics shuffle between overt nihilism, hatred and hopefulness. On "sulky baby," they ruminate on a possible suicide attempt, singing, "some days I can't believe I'm still here." The only moment that they feel don't feel "emptied out [and] dead" is when they see their lover's eyes. Their words sketch out the unstable throes of first love, a feeling relatable to almost everyone. While yeule's first two albums leaned toward electronic music and avant-pop, this one highlights the simple power of amplified guitars, drums and the raw thrust of a rock band. With its unabashed focus on large, universal emotions softened by the weight of adult experience, softscars is a beautiful blast from the past, made brighter with its emotionally timeless themes and crunchy rock aesthetics.
Tracklist01. x w x
02. sulky baby
03. softscars
04. 4ui12
05. ghosts
06. dazies
07. fish in the pool
08. software update
09. inferno
10. bloodbunny
11. cyber meat
12. aphex twin flame