Fresh off a surprise remix of “Old Town Road” that was, despite a controversial posthumous Nipsey Hussle feature, still an absolute banger, few could have predicted that Peppa’s first full-length foray into music would be a single 7-hour song, but she pulls it off with an attention to detail and a genuine passion that nobody could’ve seen coming.
Peppa’s fusion of many genres, including but not limited to harsh noise wall, ambient drone metal, free jazz, industrial hip-hop, power electronics, blackened death, sound collage and neoclassical darkwave are challenging but rewarding listens.
Peppa begins the album powerfully, with a thumping distorted kick drum and intense, brittle drones, as she addresses her recent sexual assault allegations. This cacophonous, uncomfortable phase slows down into a blissful yet frightening passage, which recounts her much-publicized incidents with psychedelic usage.
Peppa effortlessly blends wailing saxophones and discordant pianos with a beautiful, cracked vocal performance that truly conveys the feeling of a bad trip, especially one in front of the cameras. The pianos and saxophones begin to repeat the motif from Phillip Glass’ “Floe,” and as they gradually slow down and distort, we are left with a three hour barrage of rhythmless noise, interlaced with samples from Ted Bundy’s interviews.
Abruptly, this noise stops, and Peppa treats us to a beautifully minimalist solo violin performance, which serves as a nice cooldown before Peppa launches us into an intense anti-capitalist punk explosion delivered at an astonishing 230 BPM. This gradually morphs into an abrasive IDM drum solo that feels like an artful homage to the early releases on the Digital Hardcore record label.
Following this ear-melting track, we are left with two and a half hours of guitar feedback, occasionally suddenly breaking to play snippets of the earlier moments of the album in reverse, and starting back again with no warning.
The next hour is a surprisingly effortless fusion of shoegaze and microhouse, as Peppa pleads to God for forgiveness and recounts her childhood, begging that she does not go down the same path as Daddy Pig.
The last 30 minutes feature a lengthy Drop D sludge piece, in which Peppa repeatedly moans the refrain, “I pray because I have to, I die because I want to.” The track finishes off with a phone message from Mummy Pig, and the sound of Peppa’s tears can be faintly heard before the answering machine beeps and a gunshot is heard, ending the album on an incredibly heartbreaking note.
A truly harrowing listen, My First Album does a remarkable job of transporting the listener into the dark and unforgiving mind of Peppa Pig.
Score: 8.2 / 10
Claire Brown is a writer and a total music nerd. She has been writing for MMC since 2018.