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Jun 26, 2018 Let’s Eat Grandma By Lee Adcock

In the gilded palace of pop, young stars often push themselves to pass as “mature.” But two years ago, Norwich, England-based teens Let’s Eat Grandma spoke to troubled kids their age, as debut album I, Gemini nestled Katy Perry-worthy pop hooks deep in a witch’s forest of deranged sound. Now, as Jenny Hollingworth and Rosa Walton approach young adulthood, they’ve acquiesced to more adolescent frequencies for follow-up I’m All Ears. Glittery production and bright ballads about romance blast the old fairytale nightmares to oblivion; and while the SOPHIE-produced “Hot Pink” packs a confetti cannon as punchy as Sleigh Bells, other high-gloss cuts on the album don’t offer the same impish thrill that fellow outcasts could relate to.

While I’m All Ears never dips into the shrouded fervor of its predecessor, Let’s Eat Grandma can still weave a curious quilt. Granted, “Snakes & Ladders” shamelessly cops Portishead for six minutes of bombastic acid; but then there’s “Cool & Collected,” a meditative opus about trying to hide irrepressible desire, and this writer appreciates anyone who can lend gravity to an agony that macho dudes so often ridicule or deny. And the old magic manifests in the last place you’d expect, an 11-minute synthpop trance called “Donnie Darko” that builds to a climax both divine and unnerving.

Still, those two towers loom over an otherwise sterile pop album, which lacks the hidden barbs and hazy ambiguity that drew Let’s Eat Grandma’s cult following. Sure, adults can’t dwell in their personal Neverland forever-but I’m All Ears almost replaces that volatile playground with the Lorde-esque, sunshade façade that everyone and their sister wants to don with a perfunctory pout. If you desperately seek shelter from the cruel forces that would mock your (very real!) heartache, though, Hollingworth and Walton’s opal abode can still offer some respite. (www.letseatgrandma.co.uk)

Author rating: 6.5/10