Cover art by Walmer Records UK
On Fancy That, PinkPantheress continues her shimmering, hyper-referential excavation of UK dance music’s past. This time, she’s less archeologist than medium, summoning ghosts of garage, jungle, emo, and mid-2000s mall pop into a tight, iridescent 20-minute séance. The result is a record that simultaneously looks backward with longing and pulses forward with self-assured charm and surgical precision.
Like a teenager staring at her own reflection through a frosted bathroom mirror, Fancy That is both vivid and hazy. The opener ‘Illegal’ sets the pace with rippling breakbeats and a winked, demure introduction: “My name is Pink and I’m really glad to meet you.” It’s the kind of line that reads like a shrug but lands like a thesis. She’s always been casual with her entrances – but make no mistake, she makes an entrance. The eternal allure of oughties dance pop works because it has an uncanny way of prying open even the most seasoned raver to unleash their inner diva. PinkPantheress knows exactly how to harness this.
Throughout, the mixtape feels like a party unfolding in real time: one foot in the club, the other in the group chat. The production is busier and bolder than on Heaven Knows, but her breathy British accent remains the anchor. ‘Tonight’, which unfurls from Panic! At The Disco strings into a slick house groove, captures this balancing act perfectly: a coy, serotonin-soaked come-on that never overplays its hand.
When Fancy That lands, it really lands. ‘Romeo’, a giddy crescendo of skittering drums and orchestral flourishes, is one of her most fully realised songs yet: all fluttering nerves and veiled bravado; a peppy imprint of Britney’s Blackout era. Meanwhile, ‘Stateside’ rides a stomp of Adina Howard-sampling swagger, offering something flirtatious but emotionally fogged, like a drunken text.
If the album has a weak point, it is not in its brevity. PinkPantheress thrives in small doses, but perhaps possesses an overreliance on déjà vu. Tracks like ‘Girl Like Me’ and ‘Nice to Know’ shimmer on the surface, but their heavy sampling (Basement Jaxx, Kelly Clarkson) sometimes borders on patchwork. It is, however, no small feat to weave a vast web of samples and interpolations into twenty minutes – and if anywhere, a mixtape is the place to do that. Even at its most referential, the album does not lean entirely on nostalgia, but rather wears it like lip gloss: shiny, deliberate, and part of the outfit.
Fancy That is a step up in PinkPantheress’ production finesse, yet still sparkles with her youthfulness. Listeners are whisked into the fleeting joy of a crush, the burn of yearning and desire, the quiet comedown after the club, the mundane surrealism of being young and online.
By the time the tape closes, we’re left not with a grand statement, but a record that balances playfulness and introspection with a lovely bouncy lightness. Fancy That might not reinvent PinkPantheress’ sonic palette, but it certainly has sharpened it. If this is what she’s capable of at the age of 24, imagine how she may unfurl in the years to come.
