Cassyette has more sides than a fractal Rubik’s cube, and she’d probably appreciate the comparison. Two years on from ‘Sad Girl Mixtape’, and the ‘modern alternative icon’ is simultaneously cementing and diversifying her sound on her proper debut album. Of course, she’s crammed ‘The World Fucking Sucks’ with the electro-pop-darkness that we’d expect from her appearances supporting Bring Me The Horizon earlier this year, but there’s so much more emerging from the morass of samples and emotions than we’d expect.
‘Ipecac’ is pure Lady Gaga from the brief era when she was considered subversive, only with a serious grasp of the power of a well-placed circular saw guitar line. It’s a rave chaser ahead of a full smoking glass of the open skies of despair that constitute ‘When She Told Me’, which walks a tightrope path between Evanescence-like vast grief and claustrophobic, glitching bass. The songs where electronica is her emotional support animal are the most affecting, and ‘Say My Name’ slinks with latex desperation and a rising, anthemic chorus. If you’re someone who find the distinctions between electronic and rock to be arbitrary at best and a rule that deserves to be broken, then you’re going to be joining the ‘Degenerette Nation’ of Cassyette’s loyal followers.
But there’s another side to the vocalist and songwriter’s output, and it’s satisfyingly punk. ‘Friends In Low Places’ hums with derelict pop punk charm and a rousing, Interrupters-like sentiment, crashing between semi-acoustic guitar hooks at an inebriated pace. Simultaneously, the honesty and simplicity behind ‘Dear Sister’ shines down to illuminate part of Cassyette’s private life that up until now was unrevealed. After overcoming bereavement and addiction, the authenticity in her more personal songs is refreshingly heartfelt, though slightly at odds with the glossy electro adventures that make up the rest of the album. On one hand, it does carry on with the ‘mixtape’ vibe from Cassyette’s last releases – who hasn’t made a playlist with an out of place track just because? – but the clash between the disparate styles that Cassyette employs creates an odd sensation. ‘This World Fucking Sucks’ makes us lose ourselves in a beautifully refined dystopia only to be dumped back into the real world of street drinking and family loss for minutes at a time. The theatrical ‘Porcelain’, rich in wailing backing and distorted, concrete beats, precedes ‘Friends In Low Places’, and ‘Go!’, the soundtrack to a rock-themed racing game set in 2085, immediately follows. The loveliness in Cassyette’s truth becomes sandwiched between louder, more conventional statements, but with any luck it will be given centre stage on her upcoming tour.
Closing track ‘Untouched’ is as close to a perfect final chapter in the ‘This World Fucking Sucks’ story, a high-paced pop bookend to the slow-burning opening title track. There’s a slightly more melodic, mainstream twist to the album compared to previous releases like ‘Petrichor’, but it’s a sign of a maturing artist that Cassyette can tell exactly what her crowd want and how to give it to them. The quirky ‘Why Am I Like This’ is bound to inspire a million TikTok lip-syncs, if it hasn’t already, with it’s ironically peppy melody and teenage refrain, but this just proves the point: there’s a niche for Cassyette, and every song on this album scaffolds her place in it.
Most tracks on here could be singles, barring instrumental cyber jam ‘Degenerette Nation’ and even that could probably do well as a one off release in the right circumstances, and Cassyette has proved that she has the ability to tap into a desire that we have for a lighter, more palatable darkness with this collection. Over the course of this album, you’ll find yourself agreeing with it’s title, screaming, perhaps weeping, but, most of all: you’ll be dancing like it’s the end of the world.
KATE ALLVEY