LAURAN HIBBERD
Garageband Superstar (Virgin Music)
There’s something irrepressibly fun about Lauran Hibberd’s debut album, Garageband Superstar. The title gives you an idea of the tone ahead of time: laidback, loose and brimming with unearned confidence. Not to say that Hibberd isn’t deserving of her rising tide of success, but there’s a particular ‘fake it ‘til you make it’ swagger that most rock and pop stars need to embody in order to hit the legit big time, which the 25-year-old already has a firm handle on.
It might feel like an odd comparison but there’s also something of the Britpop spirit lurking in the background among the obvious pop-punk influences – brought to the forefront in Average Joe, which bears a structural and sonic similarity to Blur’s Parklife. A more contemporary one is Hot Boys, which brings Charli XCX’s own Boys to mind. But these possible touchstones aside, Hibberd’s sound is entirely her own: high-voltage, attitude-led pop rock with huge, cross-genre appeal.
Garageband Superstar’s only weakness, in fact, is it’s honing of one particular style, a few tracks blurring together for me. Still, there are plenty of headphone-blasting bangers throughout, which will absolutely catch fire when performed live.
words HANNAH COLLINS
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