review: ali barter - a suitable girl

“If Natalie Imbruglia had dipped her toes into 90s grunge.”

I’ll tell you straight up, you’re going to love this record. It feels like you’ve been listening to it on repeat your entire teenage life, and yet it’s still so completely relevant, even in 2017. With subtle nods to bands like Garbage and Spiderbait, it would’ve been right at home mixed between Heath Ledger’s devastating grins in ’10 Things I Hate About You’.

The songwriting is fucking brilliant, with its sharp, witty feminist quips, casual cussing and tongue-in-cheek hooks; ‘You don’t understand what it’s like to be a man’. Barter has delivered all of her musings so perfectly, even managing to make such simple revelations, like ‘Didn’t mean to fuck up your day,’ sound like magic.

The album rises and falls, from pop-infused anthems like ‘Girlie Bits’, to softer songs of melancholic introspection, leaving nothing untouched. It draws on so many different genres and artists, yet remains cohesive, and undeniably Ali Barter.

Tracks like ‘Live With You’ and ‘Delilah’ taste like The Jezabels, ‘One Foot In’, like Blue Foundation, and ‘Tokyo’, like Natalie Imbruglia. The entire album seems to lay bare every instance of inspiration and influence Barter has ever encountered; a summary of her life up until now.

‘A Suitable Girl’ has a lot to give, a lot to teach, and you’ll probably learn it while singing/screaming along and jumping around on your bed.

Thanks Ali Barter, for giving us exactly what we needed.

PRE-ORDER: Ali Barter - A Suitable Girl

Out Friday March 24th, 2017

Written by: SY