From the acerbic bass-hop of her breakthrough EP Alias, to the softcore europop of her (sorely underrated) debut album Nymph, UK rapper and vocalist Shygirl has cycled through many styles. But it’s dance music where she’s always felt most at home, her audacious persona a natural fit in the lineage of iconic club divas. Yet, she’s only ventured into the club a handful of times – enough to leave us lusting for more. Her latest EP Club Shy attempted to satisfy these desires, and while it succeeds, it’s the companion remix edition that really goes deep.
For Club Shy, Shygirl enlisted the help of producer SG Lewis to create a soundscape that drew from the golden era of UK house music. On the RMX edition, she expands the sonic roadmap, pulling from techno, trance, and bass to intensify the non-stop party energy of the original EP. Some tracks lend themselves naturally to this sort of reworking – Shygirl’s penchant for killer hooks and ear-worm melodies on tracks like 4eva do most of the heavy lifting, making these remixes less distinct than they have the potential to be.
The remixes that take the most risks have the higher pay off. VTSS has a good amount of fun twisting the brattiness of f@k€ into something more sinister and obnoxious, but it’s PC Music alum Danny N Harle’s take on encore that delivers the EP’s standout. Keying in on the whirlwind energy of the track, Harle stirs up a raging bloghouse shitstorm, full of snarling synths and tweaky, knocking bass that spits us out in the deepest recesses of Club Shy – exactly where this universe and its ruler thrives best.
