The Shacklewell Arms, Dalston
The upcoming Chinese-American pop star recited an indelible lesson to this corner of East London: one which displaces heterosexuals, triumphs the marginalised and places Alice Longyu Gao at the helm.
“Imagine a world with no heteros”, sings Gao, wading through the packed crowd inside Dalston’s Shacklewell Arms, cradling her harp which eventually introduces an underscoring lullaby-esque melody. Taken from her latest, well-received EP, Let’s Hope Heteros Fail, Learn and Retire, Gao has recently made a name for herself within the brashly unpredictable, affirmative hyperpop sphere which continues to evolve in the U.K. from the past decade.
Founded by the likes of Sophie and Charli XCX and furthered by the duo of 100 Gecs, the scene’s appetite has proven itself insatiable in recent years - marked tonight as a safe and expressive space for Gao’s followers, some of whom have travelled as far and wide as The Netherlands to witness such an artist. Exemplified by seismic basslines and 808s, dissonantly auto-tuned vocals and industrial percussive elements, the pop star revelled tonight in the uber-confidence burgeoning ‘Rich Bitch Juice’ - craftily remixed by the aforementioned duo of Laura Les and Dylan Brady.
Yet it’s the bold statements and brash criticisms embedded within Gao’s work which creates a euphoric mania within tonight’s audience, holding an introspective satirical value to the hedonistic, over-indulgent society we currently live within day-to-day. “You don’t need a grammy, you need therapy right now” beseeches ‘Hello Kitty’, reciting acts of Gao’s violently-fuelled fantasies before quickly segueing into repeated her screams of “believe the hype!”, bolstered on track by the stoic likes of Oli Sykes of Bring Me The Horizon.
Transitioning through the myriad ‘eras’ of Gao’s repertoire, we eventually arrive full circle to her latest, well-renowned single ‘Come 2 Brazil’, reverberating tumultuously with rhythmic finger clicking, ominous basslines and a deadpan delivery reminiscent of Charli XCX. Reciprocating this hype, the crowd launch into another seizure of chaotic frenzy emitting an adoration for the singer-songwriter, incessantly caught in a feverish sweat spilled on the making of an impressively experimental, modern pop singer ripened for today’s Gen Z.
This relative newcomer to the hyperpop mainstream, if anything, imposed a smattering of indelible lessons: encouraging therapy; dismantling heteronormativity; and believing the hype of such forward-thinking, experimental artistry. In spite of the sprinkling of lulls and stumbles through parts of tonight’s set, ‘100 Boyfriends’ representing one, the future seems promisingly bright with Alice Longyu Gao - already endorsed by many of her fellow peers and one who will undoubtedly continue to push hyperpop’s continuously-evolving envelope with her brand of cutting-edge lessons.
7/10
Alice Longyu Gao's latest EP, Let’s Hope Heteros Fail, Learn and Retire, is out now via Alice The Label and can be found below.
Photo is courtesy of Collin H whose work can be found here.
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