Golden Echo was so good and live versions of some PH tracks pre-release were interesting and then suddenly it's like she became forgotten

 

 

2 minutes ago, GraceRandolph said:

 

 

still love her! still haven't checked out the Idols & Vices sh*t though whoops  the collab with Banks was a cute bop but idk… maybe I'll give it a first listen on my bike ride home from work in a few hours?

 

A Reckoning very much killed any momentum she had left. it's a solid album, but my GOD is it polarizing or WHAT  Gun, Replay!, and Personal Space are true bangers though so 

Idk I love her first 2 albums, Vows and Golden Echo. I couldnt finish her last collab album for some reason.

Edited November 20, 20241 yr by duybeeGAshantiGA

I think her best move would be to go back to the sound The Golden Echo had and double down on the storytelling element that whole album had. Primal Heart—while a great pop album—was a bit too all over the place in terms of what it wanted to be. there's triumphant progressive pop which bangs and feels timeless (The Good War, Top of the World, Everybody Knows, Lightyears) and then there's cutesy indie pop which almost feels like an evolution of what she had going on on Vows (Recovery, Past Love) and then two great eleventh hour ballads (Right Direction, Version of Me) but it didn't feel like a logical progression from The Golden Echo unfortunately  it felt like a logical progression from Vows somehow! I think the way tracks faded into each other/sequencing on Vows and The Golden Echo made them so much more rewarding to revisit than Primal Heart as a whole. Primal Heart is like a great playlist of random undiscovered pop, and A Reckoning was maybe a bit too focused on being angry to really leave a lasting impression 

 

she's got a solid cult fanbase still, but while she was once on a Janelle Monáe-like trajectory of upward fan accruement, she faltered and is now on the popularity level of people like her good friends (and underappreciated art pop geniuses in their own rights) Dawn Richard and Banks

i feel like she's one of those artists you see in spotify playlists occasionally but you never really pay much attention outside of 1-2 songs. no shade 

I don't know tbh

Isn't she the one who everybody thought was Katy Perry in Somebody That I Used To Know?

Her and that goatee singer had their one hit and disappear a decade ago 

Just now, Radical Pessimism said:

Her and that goatee singer had their one hit and disappear a decade ago 

everytime I read your posts I feel bad You're so negative 

 

I think she is one of those artists that has absolutely no interest in compromising her vision for commercial success. she still has a small but dedicated fanbase, just released another record, and she opened for Jacob Collier and did her own touring. 

43 minutes ago, Kern said:

everytime I read your posts I feel bad You're so negative 

 

1 hour ago, JoeAg said:

still love her! still haven't checked out the Idols & Vices sh*t though whoops  the collab with Banks was a cute bop but idk… maybe I'll give it a first listen on my bike ride home from work in a few hours?

 

A Reckoning very much killed any momentum she had left. it's a solid album, but my GOD is it polarizing or WHAT  Gun, Replay!, and Personal Space are true bangers though so 

Yeah I didn't like The Reckoning…couldn't get into it.  
 

But she returned to her "regular melodic sound" on Idols and Vices (her words)…so it sounds like she knows ppl didn't like that album lol.  
 

She'll always be a fave of mine.  I&V confirmed that for me.  I wish she had a bigger push now though, it does seem like she's losing steam. 

One of my favorite songs released in 2024 

 

 

Two boring albums in a row 

 

Vows through Primal Heart was an incredible run though, most indie pop girls could only dream 

22 minutes ago, professor2000 said:

Yeah I didn't like The Reckoning…couldn't get into it.  
 

But she returned to her "regular melodic sound" on Idols and Vices (her words)…so it sounds like she knows ppl didn't like that album lol.  
 

She'll always be a fave of mine.  I&V confirmed that for me.  I wish she had a bigger push now though, it does seem like she's losing steam. 

I know and it sucks! she's super talented and her voice is just as gorgeous as it was when she debuted  I think the lack of a push plays into how there was presumably some confusion in terms of how she was to be marketed at the beginning of her career: a few cute hits in oceania, then a sleeper hit collab which became one of the most successful duets in modern pop history, then… well what next? Cameo Lover as a cute hit for Europe and the US? nahhh, still a bit too left field! what about Warrior promoted heavily? nahhh not single material other than laying the groundwork for a campaign and a cool video… but The Golden Echo didn't go for pop hits, it went for long term artistry! Primal Heart almost went for pop hits, and Top of the World appeared to have smashed on her home planet New Zealousland, but by that point it was too late for her to become an international popstar, or so it felt! honestly it's a shame cause she's truly big time talented (I mean listen to Withdraw, As You Are, and Save Me, her vocals are A+/S tier) but yeah I think she's probably happy with her niche at this point which is great, though I do wish she'd have held onto some of that original momentum as a fan who sees how capable of success her level of talent truly is 

2 hours ago, Kern said:

everytime I read your posts I feel bad You're so negative 

 

Well they aren't Radical Pessimism for no reason 

It's still kinda high camp mystique art that Kimbra and Gotye dropped one of the biggest songs ever and dropped off the face off the planet

Her first two albums are masterpieces and Primal Heart had cute moments but that's it

I liked the album she put out this year more than A Reckoning tbh

 

And omg The Golden Echo is just a masterpiece. How the **** did she even do that?

Cute seeing The Golden Echo praise lol I feel like I've never heard anyone talk about it. I always download her stuff granted the last two haven't stuck out to me so I get the feeling of absence 

Gotye happened

That's what she deserves for making Sweet Relief orphan