GIRLI | LIVE REVIEW
Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff, Sat 14 Apr
Girli is one of those artists who is best summarised with unwieldy chains of hyphens, and even then, you never quite hit the nail on the head. ‘Sugary-indie-pop-cyber-princess-feminist-rapper’ is probably a good starting point. You could throw in comparisons to Charlie XCX or Lady Sovereign, though the 20-year-old Londoner’s bubblegum production places her closer to PC Music’s Hannah Diamond. She’s also pink. Very pink.
She’s losing her voice a little tonight, but that’s perhaps excusable on the last date of a whirlwind 10-day UK tour. Her army of glittery Welsh fangirls and a few plucky fanboys are more than willing to pick up the slack, and Fuck Right Off Back To LA makes for a bouncy opener that has the whole room jumping in unison. With only a couple of short EPs and a few single releases behind her, the setlist is basically Girli’s entire discography – though even the lesser cuts land well with the dedicated crowd. Neck Contour and the 8-bit-inspired Girl I Met On The Internet are earworms that pair her suburban London drawl and punchy synths to great effect.
In between songs she delivers lengthly monologues about her Instagram woes, judgemental critics, and the eternal struggle of dealing with fuckboys. From an outsider’s perspective it might look like a pandering attempt to be relatable, but it’s clear that the mutual adoration between Girli and her fans is genuine. She’s their antidote to a world of glossy Taylor Swifts, a shamelessly open book of millennial anxiety, periods, and brazen confidence. The future is girly. And, if she keeps up her current trajectory, Girli may well be the future.
words and photos JASPER WILKINS