yeule (pronoun: she/them) is the perfect pop star for the elusive, contradictory present: multidisciplinary and multi-media, offensively vulnerable and at the same time artificially on display, over-excited and at the same time depressive, non-binary not only in terms of gender identity. Only three years have passed since the breakthrough of Glitch Princess, and there are still some glitches to be found here. Nevertheless, the sound has clearly developed in the direction of dance-pop with big hooks. The absolute will to go mainstream is palpable. Evangelic Girl Is a Gun comes as close to Avril Lavigne as comparisons to Grimes are forced upon us.
The catchy upbeat hits in the style of Tank Girl are contrasted with dark, intimate lyrics, with variations like trip-hop beats and irritations like grunge guitars – garnished with a dash of 100 gecs. With these parameters, an AI could probably generate quite similar songs – if it weren’t for Yeule’s sometimes really haunting vocals. Kin Leonn, co-producer of the previous album softscars, and Chris Greatti stand out among the real producers like A.G. Cook, Mura Masa, Clams Casino or Fitnesss. Greatti already helped Yves Tumor to mutate from a challenging avant-garde artist to a real rock star – now he is helping Yeule to become a cyberpunk pop star.
In the end, it seems a bit curated and calculated – but that’s how it has to be. After all, it is part of the zeitgeist that old farts like me are no longer the target audience.
