''Alias'' is the second extended play by British rapper and singer

Shygirl Blane Muise (born May 4, 1993), better known by her stage name Shygirl, is an English rapper, DJ, singer, songwriter and co-head/founder of record label and collective Nuxxe. Shygirl's music incorporates elements of hip house, industrial hip- ...

. The EP was released on 20 November 2020 through

Because Music Because Music is an independent record label with headquarters in Paris and London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 mil ...

and Shygirl's own label Nuxxe. Following her 2018 debut EP ''Cruel Practice'', ''Alias'' sees Shygirl enlist a diverse array of collaborators, including NUXXE co-founder

Sega Bodega Salvador Navarrete (born 16 February 1992), better known by his stage name Sega Bodega, is an Irish-Scottish music producer, singer, songwriter, DJ and co-head/founder of record label and collective Nuxxe. Sega Bodega is known for his futuristic ...

, Gloo's Kai Whiston, Oscar Scheller, Karma Kid, and the late producer

Sophie Sophie is a version of the female given name Sophia, meaning "wise". People with the name Born in the Middle Ages * Sophie, Countess of Bar (c. 1004 or 1018–1093), sovereign Countess of Bar and lady of Mousson * Sophie of Thuringia, Duchess o ...

. The EP received critical acclaim upon its release.

Promotion

"Freak" was released as the first single from the on 2 September 2020 alongside a self-directed music video made in collaboration with CGI artist Maurice Anderson and

3D modeller In 3D computer graphics, 3D modeling is the process of developing a mathematical coordinate-based representation of any surface of an object (inanimate or living) in three dimensions via specialized software by manipulating edges, vertices, an ...

Sy Blake. "Slime" was released as the second single on 7 October 2020. The EP was officially announced and put up for pre-order on 21 October 2020, with the "Slime" lyric video coming out the same day. The lyric video, filmed over FaceTime, features appearances from

, Arca, Mowalola, and Ms. Carrie Stacks. A full music video for "Slime" came on 10 November 2020. From 25 November to 30 December, lyric videos for the EP's remaining six tracks were released. An official music video for "Tasty" was released on 14 January 2021, featuring Shygirl in a mansion in the English country side inspired by fairytales,

Disney Princesses ''Disney Princess'', also called the ''Princess Line'', is a media franchise and toy line owned by the Walt Disney Company. Created by Disney Consumer Products chairman Andy Mooney, the franchise features a lineup of female protagonists who hav ...

, and '' Bridgerton''. The song was officially released as the EP's third single on 9 February 2021, with an EP featuring remixes by

Boys Noize Alexander Ridha (born 22 August 1982), better known by his stage name Boys Noize, is a Berlin-based German-Iraqi electronic music record producer, songwriter, and DJ. It is similar to the name of Ridha's label, Boysnoize Records, which he esta ...

and Lsdxoxo. "Siren" was released as the fourth single on 16 March 2021, alongside two remixes by Basement Jaxx.

Title

The name ''Alias'' comes from the four alter egos that Shygirl adopts throughout the EP: Baddie, Bae, Bovine and Bonk. Bae is a girl next door blonde "who speaks to hygirl'syouth and the nostalgia of growing up in Southeast London". Baddie has a "bleak, dark sense of humor", and represents a more satirical side of the artist. Bonk is "colorful" and represents the innocent side of Shygirl "that is out for the fun in life." Bovine is aloof, with Shygirl saying "whenever I'm thinking about newer music and trying to discover different sides of myself, Bovine is that side, because she doesn't give away too much just yet." These characters are never named directly in the lyrics, but do appear in the music video for "Slime".

Composition

''Alias'' is a hip hop, industrial,

pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former describ ...

, Eurodance, and R&B EP influenced by garage, house, grime, electroclash, and Eurobeat. The EP talks about themes of sex positivity, but a darker kind "where the pleasure comes from the danger that bubbles underneath a deadpan exterior". Shygirl's voice is described as having "a dark-horse quality to it; her voice is buttery soft, but she handles lyrics with venomous precision, knowing when to bite and when to soften." This skill shows itself on "Bawdy" which sees the artist "fluctuate between ghastly clanging and unsettling whisper-crooning" Vocal effects also play a big role in the EP, pitched-up on "Twelve", harmonizing in a "

cyborg A cyborg ()—a portmanteau of ''cybernetic'' and ''organism''—is a being with both organic and biomechatronic body parts. The term was coined in 1960 by Manfred Clynes and Nathan S. Kline.

cadence In Western musical theory, a cadence (Latin ''cadentia'', "a falling") is the end of a phrase in which the melody or harmony creates a sense of full or partial resolution, especially in music of the 16th century onwards. Don Michael Randel ( ...

" on "Siren", and Auto-Tune-d and artificial on "Tasty". Opening track "Twelve" is a call-and-response track with "an eerie saw-like synth that wouldn't score even the most haunting of Jordan Peele's horror moments". The Sophie-

produced Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

"Slime" has an "extraterrestrial club beat" built over a

trap A trap is a mechanical device used to capture or restrain an animal for purposes such as hunting, pest control, or ecological research. Trap or TRAP may also refer to: Art and entertainment Films and television * ''Trap'' (2015 film), Fil ...

loop. "Tasty" is a UK garage song described as a " ravey

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a musica ...

banger" with "bouncing breakbeat production". "Leng" takes influence from grime as Shygirl "spits mile-a-minute bars" over "skittering" beats. EP closer "Siren" is a

techno Techno is a Music genre, genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally music production, produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central Drum beat, rhythm is typ ...

song that fuses 90s Eurodance, Europop,

EDM EDM or E-DM may refer to: Music * Electronic dance music * Early Day Miners, American band Science and technology * Electric dipole moment * Electrical discharge machining * Electronic distance measurement *Entry, Descent, and landing demonstra ...

, and the sound of the PC Music label.

Critical reception

''Alias'' received a score of 84 out of 100 based on five reviews from review aggregate site

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, indicating "universal acclaim". Writing for '' NME'', Ben Jolley called the project "a maximalist joyride that sounds like it's been beamed in from the cyber-rave dancefloors of 2080" and "''Alias'' proves that Shygirl is in full control of her artistic vision no matter the scale." Ashley Bardhan of '' Pitchfork'' praised the EP for its escapism admist the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

, saying "In a year of no touching, these euphoric party moments feel far away, but Shygirl's endearing

hedonism Hedonism refers to a family of theories, all of which have in common that pleasure plays a central role in them. ''Psychological'' or ''motivational hedonism'' claims that human behavior is determined by desires to increase pleasure and to decre ...

brings that sweaty room a bit closer. ''Alias'' is a glittering light, a portal into the future and everything you might do." Mick Jacobs wrote for ''Spectrum Culture'', "Chock full of attitude, fun and menace, Shygirl's latest establishes a new, larger-than-life persona in addition to her trademark, detached cold-as-ice clubgirl."

Track listing

Notes *All track titles stylised in all caps

References

{{reflist 2020 EPs Albums produced by Sega Bodega Albums produced by Sophie (musician) Shygirl albums Because Music albums Contemporary R&B EPs Eurodance EPs Hip hop EPs Industrial EPs Pop music EPs