Review Pixey - Dreams, Pains & Paper Planes

Pixey doesn’t half have a knack for a huge chorus. If there’s just one thing to take from ‘Dreams, Pains & Paper Planes’, the Liverpool-based artist’s not-quite-full-length debut, it’s that she’s clearly a natural pop songwriter of the Charli XCX kind. Although it’s only ‘Treat Me Right’, with its spacey production and drum’n’bass breakdown that draws much of a sonic comparison to her Hertfordshire peer’s output, this is a record jam-packed with our Chaz’s speciality – hooks. They’re vocal – ‘Come Around (Sunny Day)’ might have the biggest on show – but often musical; opener ‘Recycled Paper Planes’ makes like Y2K skate anthem ‘Heaven Is A Halfpipe’ with its earwormy guitar loop, while ‘I’m Just High’ does similar with a disco lick. ‘So, Just Smile’ matches its grin-and-bear-it theme with some fuzzy, mind-altering production, while the similarly-subdued ‘Kids!’ has more than an echo of early Wolf Alice. Best of the lot, though is ‘Melody (From You To Me)’ using Pixey’s love of all things ‘90s – bright sounds, baggy beats and noodly guitars (for closest reference, think the playground patchwork of Superfood’s impeccable ‘Bambino’) – to create something truly fun.