by Paddy Kinsella

The early releases of pinkpirate – aka 20-year-old Bognor Regis producer and songwriter, Caitlin Brown – have identified them as a master of deconstruction. Their songs have often begun with a slow, hypnotising loop, which they then proceed to twist and contort under an ever-present melody that slowly burrows inside your head. Drawing comparisons to Lapalux and Westerman, it’s some of the most intriguing music to emerge from the world of electronic alt-pop in a long while.

pinkpirate’s latest single, Can We Talk About The Past Instead?, adds another feather to their boa. Dispensing the influence of Westerman and Lapalux in favour of the sugar-rush of Charli XCX, and the more beat-heavy tracks from co-producer Bullion’s discography, it is an exercise in blissful escapism. Indeed, of their tracks to date, it is the most fitting for the fluorescent lights that illuminate their hometown’s promenade. Speaking of the track, they said: ‘I’ve always wanted to talk about my anxiety surrounding growing up within a song and I think the lyrics capture the ideas around the pressure to grow up and not be boring or simple, but simultaneously about how once you get to a certain age, you don’t really seem to matter to society anymore (especially on social media).’

Exhilarating and breathless, pinkpirate has penned a banger that not only gets them outside of their head, but also bottles up the hedonistic ecstasy of youth – allowing them to pop the cork whenever such existential thoughts arrive. The party is disrupted momentarily when the song’s emotional core takes the place of the song’s heavy beat as they ponder, ‘I’m not sure that I really have the time to think about making everything turn out right.’ The dance floor fills quickly enough, though, as the song accelerates to a triumphant conclusion. The third of three songs released from their upcoming EP, i don’t want to grow up boring, each of them has been accompanied by a heart-warming video documenting the regional town that spawned such a vivid imagination. As shown in these videos, towns like this are often the quickest to tire – one light blowing on an all-singing-all-dancing-sign brings down the entire facade. pinkpirate’s fears of experiencing a similarly accelerated ageing process, however, are entirely unfounded as music this fresh-sounding is surely set to immortalise its maker.

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