Allie X Reveals Satirical Pop With Legs on Girl With No Face

In the face of “something bad”—objectification or otherwise—she strikes back with lead single “Black Eye,” a razor-sharp request to be bludgeoned by a meaty beat as a form of reprieve. “Hit me with that super bass / ‘Cause I want tonight to slap me in the face,” she beckons with vigor, leaping onto the dance floor like an overzealous boxer entering the ring. Dauntless as it is danceable, the New Order-adjacent “Black Eye” is undoubtedly one of pop’s most robust offerings of the 2020s, fortified by a pick-your-pain concept that resonates all too well in a world brimming with ills but lacking solutions. Cynical ballad “Saddest Smile” tags along in the trilogy to bear Hughes’ allegedly hardened heart, a far cry from the sentiments of 2017’s “Paper Love:” “Oh, I cry until I just dissolve / Come on watch my heart turn to pulp.”

Elsewhere, Allie X swipes language from the current lexicon to mull over musicians’ increasingly awkward position within the entertainment industry. She evaluates stan culture with “John and Jonathan,” a meandering portrait of devout fans that vibrates with synths worthy of Gary Numan’s The Pleasure Principle. Later, she adopts the internet’s ever-changing metrics for artistic failure and success to playfully contrast a fan’s gravest sin (“sleeping on” an artist) with a pop star’s greatest attributes (creative longevity) on “You Slept On Me” and “Staying Power.”

You can practically hear Hughes smile through the satire, although her lips don’t appear to curl into anything resembling optimism until album closer “Truly Dreams,” a soaring postscript emphasizing “Everything is fine, really.” “Truly, dreams never die,” Hughes reassures listeners on the chorus, dropping the curtain on her prior bleak observations. Light radiates through this lone crack in Allie X’s mask, emitting a palpable glow in spite of, well, everything. Ironically, such radiance dims the sufficient—but ultimately inferior—shine of tracks like “Galina,” “Staying Power” and “John and Jonathan.” Nevertheless, with career standouts like “Black Eye” and “Off With Her Tits,” the record signifies the formidable maturation of Hughes’ career and pop prowess. Allie X can masquerade as the Girl With No Face all she wants—but there’s no hiding this album’s serious legs.

Victoria Wasylak is an award-winning music journalist and editor with bylines in Vanyaland and The Boston Globe. She’s also written over a dozen episodes of the world-renown music and true crime podcast, Disgraceland. She recently appeared in Forbes’ inaugural 30 Under 30 list for Boston. You can find her on Twitter @VickiWasylak.