Shygirl has spent years turning the dancefloor into a playground for lust, excess and unapologetic self-expression. With Swallow!, however, the London artist seems ready to explore a different kind of freedom. Her second studio album trades some of the club-ready chaos of her previous work for distorted guitars, euphoric breakbeats and a more intimate approach to songwriting. Love takes centre stage, but this is hardly a departure from the world Blane Muise has spent years building. If anything, she’s simply finding new ways to make it her own.
Where Nymph explored intimacy through a slippery, futuristic electronic landscape, Swallow! draws from the sonic vocabulary of late-’90s and early-2000s British pop and alternative music. Trip-hop, jagged indie guitars, big beat, drum and bass and flashes of hyperpop come together in a maximalist yet remarkably cohesive record. There are echoes of The Prodigy, Massive Attack and Madonna’s Ray of Light era, but Shygirl never sounds particularly interested in recreating the past. Instead, she takes these influences somewhere unexpected, giving them a distinctly personal twist.
She co-produced the album with longtime collaborator Karma Kid, with Casey MQ contributing to some of its more delicate textures. The production stands out for its attention to detail. Its arrangements are constantly shifting, with unexpected layers and production choices revealing themselves over repeated listens. It’s one of those records that takes a little time to fully appreciate. What might initially seem like a collection of contrasting ideas gradually falls into place, and the more familiar it becomes, the more interesting its details seem.
Opener Alyse establishes the album’s contrasting moods immediately. Haunting strings and an almost hypnotic vocal delivery give way to a thunderous big beat arrangement, setting the tone for a record that rarely stays in one place for too long. That slightly mystical quality returns throughout the album, particularly in its recurring vocal arrangements, which often have an almost choral feel. Mantra is perhaps the best example. Its opening voices sound almost like a choir or an incantation before the track takes a considerably harder and faster turn. Shygirl’s rapid-fire delivery pushes the production forward, turning its initially hypnotic atmosphere into something much more urgent. It’s one of the LP’s strongest moments, bringing together its more ethereal side and its instinct for pure dancefloor energy.
Elsewhere, Submit is one of the record’s most immediately enjoyable tracks. Its distorted guitars and playful energy bring to mind the kind of fictional band that might have appeared in an episode of a late-’90s or early-2000s television series. There’s something wonderfully familiar about it without ever feeling like a deliberate throwback. Luvli takes a similarly unexpected approach, pairing an infectious pop melody with industrial undertones that make it sound like a forgotten alternative hit from the turn of the millennium. Both tracks demonstrate how comfortably Shygirl can navigate more conventional pop structures without sacrificing her taste for experimentation.
Yet the album’s most significant transformation happens beyond its production. Love has always occupied a central place in Shygirl’s universe, whether through lust, desire or the playful negotiation of power. This time, however, she approaches it from a different perspective. Speaking to The Fader, she explained that the album came together during a period in which she felt genuinely loved and content. Rather than simply celebrating romantic happiness, Swallow! explores what makes that feeling so overwhelming in the first place.
For Shygirl, loving someone also means accepting the possibility of being hurt. It’s a surprisingly direct admission from an artist whose work has often revolved around control, confidence and the freedom to define herself on her own terms. But there’s something compelling about seeing these qualities take on a different meaning. Vulnerability doesn’t necessarily mean giving up power. Sometimes, it means accepting that you can’t control everything. Allowing someone close enough to hurt you requires a different kind of confidence, and Swallow! finds Shygirl exploring precisely that tension.
This shift is particularly evident on Real, where delicate acoustic instrumentation accompanies one of her most exposed vocal performances to date. With fewer layers of production to hide behind, her voice reveals a melodic sensitivity that deserves just as much attention as her more confrontational persona. Déjà Vu offers another softer moment, while Altar brings a hazy trip-hop atmosphere that gives the album some room to breathe.
That doesn’t mean Shygirl has lost her appetite for excess. Sublime brings brash electric guitar riffs and breakbeats back into the picture, while Eternal closes the album on an expansive, euphoric note. The contrast between these moments and the record’s more intimate passages is what makes Swallow! so compelling. Its different moods feel less like competing versions of Shygirl and more like different expressions of the same restless creative instinct.
Of course, this newfound romanticism occasionally comes at the expense of the lyrical sharpness and mischievous sensuality that once made Shygirl such an unpredictable storyteller. Some of the declarations of love feel more direct than nuanced, and the emotional territory explored throughout the album is perhaps less varied than its adventurous production. Still, there’s something refreshing about an artist allowing herself to be this sincere without feeling the need to disguise every emotion behind irony or provocation.
Even the album’s title leaves room for interpretation. Shygirl has explained that Swallow! can mean different things to different people, whether they think of a bird, an action or something else entirely. For her, it also became a reminder to trust her instincts and stand by what she creates, regardless of how it’s received. There’s a certain defiance in that idea, which feels particularly fitting for an album that embraces both artistic conviction and emotional openness. Ultimately, Swallow! isn’t Shygirl abandoning her club roots in favour of a more conventional pop identity. It’s a reminder that there’s more than one way to lose control.
