Whether you like it or not, the mid-2000s are back, their pungent odor hanging in the air like the stale Red Bull fumes in your hometown’s worst club. The 2006 dance mashup “Perfect (Exceeder),” by Dutch musician Mason and American rapper Princess Superstar, is trending on TikTok, thanks to its inclusion on the Saltburn soundtrack; Charli XCX’s new single sounds like it’s trying to resuscitate the legacy of British house duo Bodyrox and singer Luciana’s 2007 hit “Yeah Yeah”; and Kanye has reportedly hired disgraced American Apparel founder Dov Charney as the new CEO of Yeezy. Blane Muise, aka Shygirl, has been on this tip for a while, and her new EP, Club Shy, suggests that she’s more equipped than most to bring the sound back into the mainstream. It’s a fairly conventional set of club bangers done right: This is an alluring, nonchalant flex between albums that’s weird enough to drop in the hyperpop Discord, but satisfying enough to play at your next birthday party.
At 16 minutes, Club Shy is short, but it covers a lot of ground. Across the record, Muise cedes a lot of space to like-minded collaborators; much of the time, they emphasize her vaporous vocals, but there are a few scene-stealers in the mix. Empress Of, on a hot streak after memorable collaborations with Rina Sawayama and MUNA, sounds charged and sinuous on the stripped-back house jaunt “4eva,” practically upstaging Muise with a half-sung, half-rapped verse that’s charismatic and catchy. Irish musician Cosha adds earthiness to the EDM throwback “thicc,” her rich vocals surging over the breakneck big-room production.
These songs offer simple pleasures, but they’re not uncomplicated. “tell me,” a simmering deep house cut produced by Boys Noize, plays like a club track written from the point of view of your wallflower friend, all libidinous desire and desperation without physical payoff. On “thicc,” the promise of a club hookup isn’t all it’s cracked up to be; Muise flits between intensity and coolness, but the focus is always on her sense of introspection, rather than the passion of the moment. Once you move past the brash exterior, it’s clear that Shygirl’s music is powered by tension and ambiguity as much as it is by spine-tingling drops.
Daniel D`Amico for SANREMO.FM