The Pom-Poms - The Pom-Poms (2018)

Since we’re pretty much going November to November I would be remiss not to start with The Pom-Poms’ self-titled EP, which has become an absolute mews staple after I discovered it in December last year. Is it loud and probably unbearably annoying to some? Yes. But somehow this music managed to convince me that being a more confident person was actually an attainable goal. Don’t ask me how, because I have no idea!

I like every song on this EP for different reasons, but my favourite overall is Full Circle, closely followed by Watch Me.

And speaking of projects involving Kitty Ray…

Rose Gold - kitty (2019)

Discovering The Pom-Poms also kicked off my Kitty deep dive. (For me, 2025 was definitely the year of Kitty!) I’m fascinated by her transformation from maligned cringey teenage rapper to independent artist making what I might (poorly) describe as dreamy part-alternative part-electronic music. Quite frankly I find even her old ‘bad’ music charming (even if only because I, too, used to fuck around making music with friends). It's hard to articulate this as well as I'd like, but even though most artists inevitably have to do a certain amount of 'growing in public', I really do have a lot of respect for discographies that span so much time where you can see so much experimentation with different styles. It makes it feel like wherever the artist has ended up is that much more 'them', if that makes sense.

Rose Gold might be the best showcase of Kitty's range that I've heard so far. It has everything from the dark and dancey (look demure) to an indie/emo(?) ballad (the window) to an instrumental that (to me) evokes cosy games like Stardew Valley (kitty’s farm) to a chilled out retake of an old unreleased rap track (florida).

And if you want to hear a song about being a financial dominatrix
(B.O.M.B. (peter)) then this is the album for you

I Love My Computer - Ninajirachi (2025)

I knew from about the second listen that this would likely be my favourite album released in 2025. It’s almost impossible to not make comparisons to Brat in the sense that it’s an electronic/dance album that’s absurdly catchy and also touches on some quite personal subjects (in this case things such as 2010s nostalgia [iPod Touch], the mortifying ordeal of posting on Instagram [Delete], and accidentally coming across shock videos as a teenager [Infohazard]). It’s more EDM and less pop than Brat overall, but I’ve given both albums the same average rating and I love it enough that I now own 2 different vinyl variants ^^; Highly highly recommended!

STRUGGLER - Genesis Owusu (2023)

STRUGGLER is a concept album about a roach fighting God (kinda Kafka-inspired…?) and it’s truly excellent. It’s an extremely cohesive album, spanning a lot of different emotions and really telling a story. It’s catchy too! My favourite tracks at the moment are Leaving the Light, Freak Boy, Balthazar, and Survivor. (Please can there be a deluxe vinyl or something with Survivor on it… I respect the artistic choice to end on Stuck To The Fan but, please, it’s too good to not play on the big speakers >_<)