Allie X is a hard one to pin down. Her highly stylised look recalls the high-fashion camp spectacle of Lady Gaga, but the video for her blog-popular track ‘Catch’ is filled with the kind of body-horror found in a music video by Gazelle Twin or The Knife. Given this confrontational and affected aesthetic, it’s a surprise to hear ‘Never Enough’, from her latest EP, sounds more akin to Taylor Swift and Haim. Over chiming piano chords and a warm bassline, the Canadian chanteuse does her best to conjure the spirit of 80s pop, with the kind of melodic sensibility that feels effortless and instantly familiar. Her voice is velvet soft, not showy but commandingly strong, and ‘Never Enough’ could easily pass for a straightforward pop song.
But it isn’t just radio-friendly choruses and billowy vocals. ‘Never Enough’ is about the death of a relationship, with lyrics that flip the clichés of pop songwriting to burn the dying embers of failed romance. It’s a subtle but clever trick, and indicative of the deeper and darker levels that lie beyond the surface of Allie X’s brand of alternative pop.
