Introduction

You may have been walking around campus, wondering… where are the PinkPantheress fans? Distraught and lost, but not without hope, Vince Tafea sifted through her Instagram followers and messaged both friends and acquaintances alike. On a mission, and like a bat symbol shone into the sky (or a panther symbol in this case), a ragtag group of Vince’s mutuals emerged out of thin air, with one objective: to chill and listen to PinkPantheress’ highly anticipated new album, Fancy That. In attendance were Vince, Maya Zafar, Cassidy Newman, Marc Paniza, Dana Kafina, and Grace Street, with Tara Marocchi there in spirit. 

Initially a joke, Vince and Grace took minutes to record our quotations and ratings, and we suddenly realised… we cooked. And so emerged the OFFICIAL* USyd Fancy That review.

Upon later reflection, we’d like to note that we were listening to each song with a very critical ear, as musicians and music enjoyers with high standards, so some of the ratings given on the day were probably harsher than necessary. Disagree with the ratings? Let us know, because there are probably others in the group who also disagreed, but acquiesced during the roundtable negotiations to land on a final number for each song.

Reviews

Illegal: 3/5

‘Illegal’ was a strong introduction to the album and its new vibe, and signposting Fancy That’s themes. It’s flirty, cheeky, and fun, with a funky synth. Dana noted that they disliked the repeated “Hi, I’m Pink” line, which no one disagreed with, except Vince (a common theme). Vince didn’t know what Pink was saying in the lyrics, but said it was still “fire.”

Girl Like Me: 4/5

‘Girl Like Me’ has a great bass which came through well on our speaker in the OB Room, but should be done justice on a better system. Like ‘Illegal’,  it has novel hyperpop and chiptune elements that scratch that itch in your brain. Vince identified its Baltimore-like and garage feel, which marks a departure from the very UK rap sense present in many songs on Heaven knows (2023). 

Tonight: 3/5

One word. Sexy. There’s a reason that ‘Tonight’ was first released as a single a month ago and why it quickly became a hit. Again, it’s fast with a good bass. Unlike other Pink songs, it’s more explicit and flirty — “you want sex with me?” It’s a simpler, repetitive song which makes it easy to dance and sing to.

Stars: 4.5/5

This song received a collective gasp and awe when the bass came in. Digging the style reminiscent of UK garage, Maya asked if there were features credited in the song or appearing later in the album. After looking at the credits, we found that we could thank a sampling of English musician Just Jack’s 2009 disco-y, dance-y electro pop song ‘Starz In Their Eyes’ for the addictive chorus in ‘Stars.’

The song was also written by English electronic duo Basement Jaxx, song-writer Joshua Alexander Gaskin-Brown. It was produced by: Glasear (John Ong), an American record producer; Jkarri, who worked on ‘Passion’ and ‘Stateside’; and Aksel Arvid Hauge, a Norwegian record producer and songwriter recognised for his close collaboration with artists like Jack Harlow and PinkPantheress.

Intermission

We said this was too short to rate and take into account. However, it did play into our overall rating for the album, noting that Grace said “I love an album that’s meant to be listened to in its entirety”. The few lyrics in this song do reference “Aksel” the executive producer of the album. To that, we say “thank you Aksel!”. 

Noises: 4/5

We landed on a 4/5 for this song, but Vince disagreed and wanted his dissent noted. ‘Intermission’ and ‘Noises’ bleed into one another, before ‘Noises’ brings in another strong, fast beat. We liked it but were thrown off by the repeated “What the fuck was that?” interjection that made it seem “meme-y” to Grace and “something I would play when I’m on Discord and playing League” according to Marc. 

Nice to Know You: Debated. 4/5 ?

Maya and Vince scored ‘Nice to Know You’ a 3/5 while everyone else present gave a 4.5/5. It has remained a favourite for many of us, with an enchanting introduction that Vince called “some inception shit… like Hans Zimmer.” It is more like PinkPantheress’ previous songs — “sad girl hyperpop” for Grace, “RnB girl coded” for Cassidy. Vince and Maya liked this touch and the 2000s RnB girl group-esque samples, but thought it was a bit undercooked and not as good as the ‘sad’ songs from albums like Blue. On the other hand, most of us loved it! 

We took a pause to research and discuss the chorus, which we found was sampled from ‘Spiral’ by William Orbit, featuring the Sugababes and Kenna. PinkPantheress is reportedly a fan of the English girl group, the Sugababes, formed in 1998 and also features parts of the melody of the band’s ‘Freak Like Me’ on the next song, ‘Stateside’. 

Stateside: 5/5!

This was the second single released before the official drop of the album, and it was our favourite – receiving praises of “the most cohesive song so far” (Grace), “a certified bop” (Dana), and “that was the best” (Vince, who is hard to please). Cassidy, Dana, and Marc negotiated hard for a 5/5 rating, unwilling to compromise on this one. Grace’s qualm was that it is about American boys, but found it funny that it could be said to have predicted the recent election of Pope Leo XIV. ‘Stateside’ has a great break in the song, is sexy and fun, and gets your heart racing with its lyrics and pulsing beats. 

Romeo: 2.5/5

We agreed that this song had potential but was slightly underdeveloped and a cliffhanger. Not a strong finish to the album. The pre-chorus features  “step one, don’t let yourself fall in love” and then never tells us what “step two” is. Vince enjoyed the lyrical content otherwise, Dana liked the voices of men shouting the chorus at the end, and Grace thought the guitar feature was interesting; but this song felt a bit out of place at the end of the album which otherwise worked quite well together. 

Concluding Remarks

Top 3 Songs

PinkPantheress haiku by Dana

heart beats pink, bouncing
privileged to know the two:
fancying and joy.