“Why does nobody mention that girls can be violent?” Straus wonders in a whispery voice on the title track, a calm, luscious opener with a couple of F-bombs and foreboding synths, keeping you guessing as to what lies in store on the follow-up to 2022’s Hold On Baby. Are you about to hear a restrained, sultry album or is she going to blow her fuse and become violent herself? Contradictory lines like “And I hate it / But I kinda like it”, sung with intense emotion in spite of their plain matter-of-factness, are not helping. The song ends without relieving your suspense, leaving you with the feeling that you’d best brace yourself for whatever is coming.
Straus describes Girl Violence as “very sneaky”, and throughout its 13 songs she explores why women are “so inclined to cause and receive chaos”. It’s a feminist album in the sense that it deals with what it means to live and love as a woman. She treats those experiences as both amazing and sinister, though, and relationship dynamics seem to interest her only to the extent that they attest to the “craziness” of femininity. Despite being front and centre in their cerebral and carnal glory, these relational patterns serve as tools that help her discover how her own self keeps shifting: how she sees herself, how she moves through the world, and why she gives in to desire or adventure against her better judgment.
Equal parts angsty and romantic, “Girls” is a case in point. “And I’m dying to let you back in / But that would be violence / That would be chaos / That would be fighting” she sings, conflicted, the indecision captured in the lyrics mirrored by both the music – parts rock song, parts waltzy ballad – and her voice, alternating between smooth and gritty. And just when you think the noise caused by the dense, crunchy guitars is about to win out and chaos will reign supreme, the song simmers down and you’re left wondering, “What now?”
Straus doesn’t offer any answers but it’s her unwillingness to spoonfeed you anything that makes Girl Violence so engaging. Sure, some listeners will feel frustrated by her not tying up any loose ends, but think of that as her being sneaky – as the violence she furtively inflicts on you, if you will. This is her way of disrupting the songwriting process so prevalent in contemporary pop music, which thrives on conformity, limitations and a sharp division between what is considered proper and what is taboo.
Then again, her inclination for such artistic subversion should come as no surprise. The track “Homegirl” from her 2019 debut LP, Cheap Queen, married an innocent melody reminiscent of the pre-rock and roll 50s with the words “We’re friends at the party / I’ll give you my body at home.” Even at 20, Straus saw that the lines between what’s supposedly right and wrong were blurred at best; by now those lines have disappeared. When her voice cracks on “RIP KP”, a self-eulogy of sorts, you don’t just hear her lust, you feel it. “If you want it on the floor / You can have it like that / Up against the door / You can have it like that,” she half sings, half raps, with the dub-tinged music in keeping with her playful sexiness, but once again, she’s not after your approval and throws some unsettling synth effects into the mix just to make you feel a little uncomfortable.
Like her previous albums, Girl Violence shows broad stylistic eclecticism – offering Straus’ variations of pop, R&B, alternative, and hip-hop – and draws as much from the 80s and the 90s as from the songs that are taking today’s charts by storm. Will she ever score a chart-topper? Given her propensity for writing lyrics like “You should fuck around, fuck around / And get your heart broken,” you shouldn’t bank on it. I doubt she cares, though, because the sense of freedom that comes with being unapologetically herself must be exhilarating – it’s definitely infectious. “You’re gonna cry, cry, cry,” she promises to a frenemy on the bratty diss track “Cry Cry Cry”, and listening to the album, you too may tear up if some of the words hit too close to home. But you’re just as likely to smile, flinch, have goose bumps or get horny.
