Recommended tracks: “hands hands hands,” “an apple a day,” organic intelligence (oi)”
Artists you may like: Memphis LK, DJ_Dave, Miss Madeline
horsegiirL continues to prove why horses are better than humans on her long-awaited debut album NATURE IS HEALING. A slight thematic maneuver from the private islands and rich sex of v.i.p – very important pony, the LP marks her return to (extra)ordinary life in the barn. Becoming one with Mother Nature through the artificiality of digicore-tuned vocals, cheeky hyperpop hooks, and abrasive techno bass, NATURE IS HEALING has a seriously political narrative disguised under sonic silliness.
The Berlin-based, world’s first half-human half-horse artist co-produced the record with electro-pop elites including PC Music’s A.G. Cook (Charli xcx), Casey MQ (Oklou), Margo XS (Zara Larsson), and Germany’s very own FREE JIMI, concocting one of the most cohesively dynamic electronic soundscapes yet. Blending EDM beat drops with literal frog croaks, hardstyle distortion with spoken word, and keyboards mimicking water drops, NATURE IS HEALING takes dance music way beyond rave warehouses and club basements. It is proof horsegirrL is anything but a one-trick pony.
The pre-released singles “only the best,” “an apple a day,” and “earth is turning” almost represent the three track archetypes throughout NATURE IS HEALING: the pre-game mid-tempo groove, the feral neck-breaking festival banger, and the lyrical thesis statement.
“an apple a day,” in particular, is signature horsegirrL, reminiscent of her canonical “eat, sleep, slay, 🔁” with its loud, unabashed 2010s EDM grit and virtually brainrot-style songwriting: “An apple a day keeps the doctor away / I’m just, I’m just saying vitamins are fucking great” as an actual angry voice of a doctor cuts in.
Absurd moments like these, however, are always sandwiched between the record’s most introspective lyricism: “Nobody guarantees, love lies beauty next to me / But it’s your energy that takes me to Venus / Now that we’re in the deep, let’s just do biology / The only way to be, takes me to Venus.” Imagining life on another planet as she also describes sexual transcendence is the kind of euphemism that would only translate so seamlessly through such classic hyperpop, wink-wink nudge-nudge.
The same metaphorical evocations can be found in “hands hands hands”: “If I’d be you, I’d be surprised about my hands and what they try / And what they feel and what they make / And what they burn and what they break / How they cut and how they dig / How they stroke and how they stick.”
A 15-track full-length debut with a near one-hour runtime, NATURE IS HEALING sets horsegiirL apart as the OG party animal making beats for the real stages rather than for algorithmic virality, an ethos she explicitly embraces on the Jersey club-infused “organic intelligence (oi).” The bouncy AI slander track also speaks to her noble pursuit of horse-masked anonymity in the current music industry climate shaped by parasocial and palatable aesthetics. The farmcore of it all does not just entertain, but also serves to construct an entire utopian universe where dancing, more than mere catharsis, becomes metamorphic.
horsegirrL soundtracks the clubs of the otherworldly. While humans dance like there’s no tomorrow, horses dance because there is one.
NATURE IS HEALING is out everywhere now.
Catch horsegiirL on the road for her NATURE IS HEALING tour this fall across Europe and North America with support from Ren G, DJ_Dave, and Dylan Brady. Grab your tickets here.
Upcoming Tour Dates:
September 18: Denver, CO @ Denver Reelworks
October 21: Atlanta, GA @ The Eastern
October 23: Philadelphia, PA @ The Filmore
October 24: Washington, DC @ Bertha
October 27: Toronto, Ontario @ History
October 29: New York, NY @ Terminal 5
October 31: Boston, MA @ Roadrunner
November 25: Berlin, Germany @ Huxleys
November 27: Paris, France @ Elysee Montmartre
November 30: Antwerp, Belgium @ Trix
December 1: Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Melkweg
December 4: London, United Kingdom @ O2 Academy Brixton
Keep up with horsegiirL: Instagram // Spotify // YouTube // Website
