She clears her throat. Then the drum machine rumbles to life, the keyboard plays hazy melodies, and she freestyles over it—freestyles in the sense of art students, not in the way your mum would. Guests are visiting from Glasgow. Glasgow is one of Europe’s music capitals—lots of great exports from there—and the duo of Jessica Higgins and Matthew Walkerdine are no exception. When you listen to »I Wish I Was Special,« you’d probably guess Brighton first in terms of band origin. That’s already the first compliment. There are plenty more to come, and they come quite easily. The duo make their music themselves and, above all, it feels spontaneous. This DIY synth-pop ambient sound must have been created in the moment with Higgins associating and rhyming through her verses and the melodies emerging slowly, then receding. In the background, you can hear street sounds, dishes, and snippets of conversation. This creates a great deal of intimacy, but also a sense of tiredness. The clouds don’t part, the drink has gone cold in the cup, the synth attack tips over, and someone casually drops a joke. Towards the end, »I Wish I Was Special« loses more and more of what made the album so charming in the first place: the indecision, the hesitation, the unconditional will to remain edgy.
I Wish I Was Special
