Am I a Girl? is the second studio album by American singer-songwriter Poppy. It was released on October 31, 2018, by her own label I'm Poppy and Mad Decent.[2]
Am I a Girl? | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio albumby | ||||
Released | October 31, 2018 (2018-10-31) | |||
Recorded | Mid-2017 – January 10, 2018,[1] October 2018 | |||
Genre |
| |||
Length | 39:28 | |||
Label |
| |||
Producer |
| |||
Poppy chronology | ||||
| ||||
Singles from Am I a Girl? | ||||
| ||||
Before its release, Poppy had described the album as having a French, vaporwave and Kate Bush influence.[1][3] Along with Diplo, it also includes collaborations with Fernando Garibay and Grimes.[4]
Am I a Girl? has been labelled by critics as a dance-pop, synth-pop, electropop, and nu metal album.[5][6][7] The final tracks of the record, "Am I a Girl?", "Play Destroy", and "X" explore heavy metal.
"In a Minute" was released as the lead single from the album on July 27, 2018.[4] On August 10, the second single "Time Is Up" featuring Diplo was released alongside a music video.[8]
On October 12, 2018, Poppy released "Fashion After All" as the third single, followed by fourth single "Hard Feelings" on October 19. "X" was released as the fifth and final single from the album on October 25, 2018. The music video for "X" was released on November 5, 2018.[9][10]
On October 30, 2018, "Play Destroy", which features Canadian singer Grimes, was released early on Poppy's YouTube channel several hours before the album was out worldwide.[11] This track received critical attention for its blend of pop and heavy metal.[12][13][14] Despite not being featured on the album, "Immature Couture" was released as a promotional single in September using Am I a Girl?'s album artwork.[15]
In late 2018 and early 2019, Poppy embarked on the Am I a Girl? Tour in support of the album.[16]
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [17] |
Highsnobiety | 3.0/5[18] |
Am I a Girl? received polarized reviews from music critics. Highsnobiety described Poppy as "intriguing if not wholly charismatic" and found that the album "is an enjoyable enough club record, but it fails to add anything new to the conversation".[18] AllMusic noted Poppy's sense of humor is evident during the record and remarked that while "not as cohesive as Poppy.Computer, Am I a Girl? definitely isn't stale, and it succeeds at expanding Poppy's sound and identity enough to keep fans listening and guessing."[17]
Maura JohnstonofRolling Stone described the album's shift into metal music in its latter half as a satisfying "critique of the mental whipsawing one has to do in order to survive in 2018",[19] and Poppy referred to the genre as "Poppymetal".[20]
Credits adapted from Tidal.[21]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "In a Minute" |
| Ryosuke "Dr. R" Sakai | 2:53 |
2. | "Fashion After All" |
| Wax Motif | 3:23 |
3. | "Iconic" |
|
| 2:52 |
4. | "Chic Chick" |
| Vaughn Oliver | 2:54 |
5. | "Interlude 1" | Pereira | Sakai | 0:47 |
6. | "Time Is Up" (featuring Diplo) |
|
| 3:29 |
7. | "Aristocrat" (featuring Garibay) |
|
| 3:21 |
8. | "Hard Feelings" |
|
| 3:39 |
9. | "Girls in Bikinis" |
| Oliver | 2:25 |
10. | "The Rapture Ball" |
| Aryay | 3:00 |
11. | "Interlude 2" | Pereira | Sakai | 1:06 |
12. | "Am I a Girl?" |
|
| 3:37 |
13. | "Play Destroy" (featuring Grimes) |
|
| 3:05 |
14. | "X" |
|
| 2:54 |
Total length: | 39:28 |
Notes
the self-referential electro-pop of 2017's Poppy.Computer and the forays into nu-metal and dance-pop on the following year's Am I a Girl? further blurred the project's boundaries [...] On 2018's Am I a Girl?, Poppy worked with Diplo, Grimes and Lady Gaga collaborator Garibay on a set of songs that incorporated mainstream pop and nu-metal sounds and explored fame, fashion and identity
The follow-up came a year later with 'Am I A Girl?'. An album in three acts, it questioned identity, celebrity and climate change while exploring the world of electro-pop [...]