This sentiment – wisdom wrung from hardship – pervades her new songs. Also, if De Souza has typically narrated her struggles in real time, here she has more distance. If her distinct vocals have often been bathed in grungy instrumentation, her voice is now gloriously unobscured. It wafts above the mix, pointing to newfound clarity – insight into the ways of the world and her own habitual leanings.
The album is also De Souza’s most pop-infused project. While her previous outings have never been bereft of hooks, here the catchy tunes cascade. Her songwriting is leaner, more streamlined and focused, more invariably compelling in terms of melody and vocals. “Crying Over Nothing”, for example, launches with upbeat and clubby synths, De Souza’s melody irresistible from the first phrase. “Crush”, too, illustrates De Souza going all-in with the pop MO while never collapsing into formulaicness. A pulsing bass and spry beats undergird her voice, nudging it skyward.
On “Be Like the Water”, De Souza’s voice is breathy, rising above distorted guitars and crystalline synths. Lyrically, her title echoes Bruce Lee’s recommendation, that we’re at our best when fluid, adaptable, agenda-less. “I’m temporary”, she proclaims, moving on to a rewording of The Buddha’s teachings on impermanence. She then asserts, “I am an island”, contradicting John Donne’s famous aphorism while lampooning reality circa 2025 (with its vapid overuse of the word “community”).
“Heartthrob” again shows De Souza forging an unshakeable
melody and well-paced vocals. The line “I really put my back into it”,
with its hip timbre, remains lodged in a listener’s head for hours after
the song stops playing. You’ll be microwaving a midnight snack while
humming the tune, which you heard at breakfast. While De Souza has never
been at a loss when it comes to collaging grunge elements, with Precipice
she reinterprets and transcends those 90s templates, embracing an
uber-pop sensibility, garnishing the tune with sprinkles of bittersweet
punk.
Sometimes a hook is simply a gift, a simple yet
immaculately integrated element that arrives seemingly intact; i.e.,
“Heartbreaker”. “Pass It By” is the sonic highpoint of the project,
overflowing with dancey beats and summery synths. Though De Souza
addresses the fleeting nature of life and love, she occurs as resilient,
curious, and willing to accept the futility of the “if/only” game; that
is, having your happiness be contingent on external conditions.
De Souza has a knack for closing her projects on a high note (“I Had to Get Out” from 2018's I Love My Mom, “Kill Me” from 2021's Any Shape You Take, and the extraordinary “Younger and Dumber” from 2023's All This Will End).
Here she wraps up a genre-defining set with the breathtaking title
song. “Coming to a precipice / holding on for dear life / looking out
into the world / everything has gone dark”, she sings (you can imagine
thousands of people waving their cell phones in the night), though one
has the sense that De Souza possesses the courage, resourcefulness, and
durability to keep moving forward, to find new light.
Precipice captures De Souza’s impressive growth as
a songwriter, and her ability to reconcile doubt and clarity,
uncertainty and faith, nihilism and self-trust. The album’s production
MO, a collaboration with Elliott Kozel, aptly complements her lyrical
vision and energetic bearing. Precipice is that rare album that
brings together vulnerability, self-reflection, and the trademarks of a
mainstream milestone: super earworms, coolly cosmopolitan sonics, and a
voice that grows more compelling with each track. Precipice is De Souza’s “arrival” album and a singular addition to the contemporary pop canon.
