MICHELLE - Songs About You Specifically

At the core of NYC-based collective MICHELLE lies an enviable ability to pen sub-three minute pop gems: take the refrain of ‘Painkiller’, the deliciously funky ‘Oontz’, or ‘Mentos and Coke’, on which the chorus is as sugary sweet as the combination in question. Unfortunately, and perhaps surprisingly for a group in which no one member takes sole vocal centre stage, the delivery too often veers towards the featherlight, creating situations in which the songs in question are bona fide bops on paper, but largely unmemorable to the ear. ‘Missing On One’ and ‘Noah’ are ‘70s soft pop, while the 2010s blogger indie and ‘90s R&B of ‘Cathy’ and ‘Dropout’ hint at nostalgia, but via a post-bedroom pop sound that’s closer to ASMR than banger. The title ‘Songs About You Specifically’ is a wonderfully evocative one that suggests spite; if that were audible, there’d be a handful of pure gems on it.