[REVIEW] Between Friends - WOW!: Tightly Crafted Earworms Designed for the Dance Floor

★★★★

Pop music genuinely seems to take itself too seriously at times. Not to say there isn’t fun to be had; Chappell Roan’s debut album is a camp masterpiece, and artists like Underscores are breaking the mould in ways the pop world hasn’t embraced in years. Yet, a lot of the time, the fun is usually in the viral singles, such as ‘Espresso’ by Sabrina  Carpenter and ‘Rush’ by Troye Sivan, with the bulk of the album taking more tender directions. 

Bedroom pop duo Between Friends seem to have something else in mind. Since 2018, they’ve been dipping their toes in every facet of pop possible; from the R&B and lo-fi influences of I Like It When You Shine! in 2021, to the angsty alt-pop of I Love My Girl,  She’s My Boy in 2023. With this big, bright new album, aptly titled WOW!, they  encourage you to hit the dance floor and let everything go. No interludes, intros or features, this is a tightly crafted collection of bouncy electronic pop that is not trying to be  the next big thing: it’s a punchy emotional release.  

Take the dreamy opener ‘You And Me Time’, with its punchy drums in the chorus balancing the vocals of main singer Savannah Hudson with a strong payoff, or ‘DJ’ with the glitchy synths and heavy 808s bouncing on all cylinders. You don’t need to think, you  need to be covered in body glitter and watch it mix with the sweat as the laser lights hit your skin while you bounce the night away. 

My biggest criticism of Between Friends in the past is that, no matter the subject matter of the lyrics, it always seemed to blend into one big romanticising ball of choruses. While this is still the case, it plays into the songs more than ever, while having this level of  existentialism and self-awareness that lets the material shine. ‘BLOW’, for example, is this bratty, headbanger of a track that invokes the early work of ‘Metro Station’, Savannah struts through the grit-covered guitars wailing on the track stating: “Feel like I could take a little more, so blow my fucking ears off.” It has this carefree energy that sounds like the duo was having a banging time creating this album. 

Production is headed up by the other half of the sibling duo, Brandon Hudson, who over the years has shown he’s got the pop chops for the big league. Co-producing, however, is Irish artist EDEN, who is no stranger to mutating pop and electronica, and has taken in this project with open arms, elevating the duo in ways not seen before. ‘Soda’ is this grandiose triumph with a lovely piano chord followed by delicate strings, with Savannah’s vocals dripped in auto tune, invoking a futuristic take on the ‘Doo-Wop’ style of pop music, akin to the Shangri-Las. If this were any other artist, it shouldn’t work, but this is the same group who covered Aretha Franklin, Fabolous and Paul McCartney all in one album, so it clicks.  

‘XD’ absolutely gleams with Europop vibrance and a melancholic tone in its lyrics. It's a perfect track to be screaming along to while driving through a tunnel in the dead of night. ‘1234567’ is a deceptively simple track that delivers on every aspect: the bass-heavy chorus, the slightly cheesy lyrics performed with such integrity (“I know I can be emo.”), along with atmosphere dripping out of every chord. 

Unfortunately, due to the album being very brash in nature, a couple of tracks on the second half of the album feel a bit more muted. ‘Parking Lot’ is still atmospheric with its twinkly synths, but it veers into filler territory, even more so being sandwiched between two of the best songs on the project. ‘Comfortable’ feels like an afterthought, even though it all flows quite nicely; it pales in comparison to the tracks before it.  

Even though it occasionally misses the mark, I’ve had a lot of fun with WOW!, and will continue to enjoy it. It’s refreshing to see pop music in its purest form: sweaty, danceable, fun and approachable. Tracks like ‘JAM!’ With its Hitchhiker-like production that’s  begging to be shoved onto a DJ mix, Brandon singing about having sex on a lawn over 808s on ‘Chevron’, to the closer ‘Jackie’ and its ethereal synths ending everything as strong as it started. 

This album might not be for you if you’re expecting something a bit more serious or looking for the next big hit. If, however, you want an eclectic collection of strong pop bangers, then this is the album for you.