Mel 4Ever continues to emblazon their status as hyper-punk royalty with the drop of her new EP She Culture.1. It arrives as a searing blitz against the emboldened words and actions of anti-trans bigots, overwhelming their vociferous hate with electric raucousness and an infectious audacity. The songs found within comprise a sequel of sorts for her ecstatic debut Tranic Attack — which saw her reckoning with the early stages of transition and the trauma of both sexual assault and abuse. Once again she pairs a gut-wrenching honesty with bombastic energy and an irreverent lyricism.
On the EP’s opening track “J.K. Rowling,” Mel ornaments her brutalizing retaliation against transphobes with the name of an infamous TERF. The song recalls an early taste of the vehement hate that remains a commonplace characteristic of life for transgender people.
“When I was in the fifth grade, a boy in my class kept hitting me in the face with quarters,” Mel’s warped voice intones. “He looked at me and said: This is for your sex change” — a ferocious drop of imploding electronica and industrial bass punctuates the shocking vitriol. But in true Mel fashion, she takes those words and uses them as an unbridled rallying cry.
“She Culture” tears into dualities of anxiety and fury, fearless pride and withering self-doubt, oscillating between caustic bass and synth-anthemics. Then there’s “Girl 4Ever” — a frenetic track that melds together an electro-pop ode to feminine beauty with an unnerving recollection of a night she was stalked by some men on the streets of New York. “Big League Chew” (feat. Linux & BABYNYMPH) finds Mel at her most wryly obscene as she rides the heady slopes of thrumming bass drops; while the hyperpop extravagance of “GO BITCH!” (feat. Fraxiom) rockets through a gauntlet of madcap sonics.
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Mel 4Ever said of She Culture.1: “It’s trans rage and focused power. It’s my ‘Britney Spears lashing out at the paparazzi’ moment, directed at violent oppression. This is me as a pop star fighting back and speaking up for anyone who’s been impacted by misogyny — even if they don’t realize just how much it has. My goal as a performer has always been to be as rebellious and bold as I want to be, with the hope that it will inspire my audiences to feel safe and do the same in their own lives. This EP is like a love letter to all the people I’ve met at my shows who share the same fears I do in this country.”
Visit Mel 4Ever on their TikTok and Instagram to stay updated on new releases and tour announcements.
Words: Steven Ward
Listen to She Culture.1 the new EP from Mel 4Ever below!
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