Album Review: Poppy - I Disagree

There’s something incredibly disconcerting about a syrupy sweet voice singing over riotous heavy metal riffs and gnarly dubstep, particularly when that voice is Poppy's, and her lyrics are this dark. On her third studio album, I Disagree, the enigmatic performer alters doll-like demeanour to include a little more anger. 

Seriously, the amount of heavy metal, with ferocious and grinding rhythms on songs like the album’s title track, Bloodmoney and Concrete, will appeal to metalheads and pop lovers alike. Perhaps that was Poppy’s mission objective, who knows? But that’s part of Poppy’s game: to keep you guessing. And guess you will – and question, and wonder, and love. 

Poppy, while appearing sweet and mysterious and retaining a kitsch and kid-like quality throughout this release, is a demon. She’s a demon with gripes, her narratives largely pointing a finger at the seemingly constant conversation surrounding her perplexing and peculiar manner. 

Poppy slips and slides between this elevated sense of grievance and her more traditional sweetness. It is disconcerting too to hear Poppy singing what could be called a lullaby to herself on a few tracks here like Don’t Go Outside, which is coupled with her evolved fierceness. Poppy looks for comfort, for assurance, for identity, and she’s put that message in an explosive bottle of intricate textures and harmonies.

By further diversifying her melodic experimentations on this release, Poppy has found a new and intriguing way to hook you into her bewildering world. However, given the theme of this release, it sounds like she might not want the constant attention.