Slayyyter finds her underground sound in ‘Troubled Paradise’

Arts

Jun 11

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“I felt a little limited only making very pink and sexy Y2K pop,” Slayyyter confesses. “Pop is constantly shifting and changing and what we consider to be pop isn't the same as 10 years ago.”

Approaching new work with expansion in mind, alongside a wild short years of production, like a siren, the conceptuals of Troubled Paradise resounded to Slayyyter with voracity. “Dante’s Inferno inspired me a lot, thinking about what ‘paradise’ is like, concepts of good versus evil, and how everyone has a bit of both in their personality,” Slayyyter recounts. “I also went through a breakup and some dating troubles over the past two years that led me to write some of the heartbroken tracks on the project. The album embodies so many different emotions.”

Mostly penned within 2020’s chaotic surreality, in spite, Troubled Paradise cradled a creative clarity that Slayyyter found herself craving on multiple levels. “I feel like I was so isolated in quarantine but it helped me tap into my deepest thoughts and emotions in a way I hadn't before with music,” she shares. “I wrote ‘Clouds’ in LA during lockdown in my Airbnb, after feeling like I hadn't seen another human in so long. I took a better look at myself and thought about how I wanted to become the artist I was meant to be.”

The result is an astoundingly versatile record, fertile not only for the catharsis of romantic estrangement, but a complex terrain to explore her full range. Opening with the sonic cyanide of “Self Destruct (ft. Wuki)” and closing with the saccharine lovebomb of “Letters”, the 12-song studio debut showcases just what Slayyyter can do. It’s also a testament of how embracing the unfamiliar can bring favorable logistical change. “Releasing independently is definitely cool and I did it for a long time, but being on FADER Label has given me all the tools I needed to make this album in the vision I wanted it to be,” Slayyyter divulges. “FADER has helped elevate my presence in music so much, but they have also given me creative freedom to make the music I feel like making, too.”

As a truly Internet-risen Soundcloud star, climbing iTunes with “Mine” in 2019 to a wide exposure of fans, migrating from St. Louis to LA, connecting with like-minded colleagues (including previous collaborators Kim Petras and Charli XCX)... the frequent lump with hyperpop became long outgrown. “I feel like I found my sound on this project and experimented with genres and song structures in a way I hadn't before,” she says, delving into deep house, pop punk, trap and dub, to name a few. The 32-line bridge on “Troubled Paradise” alone, crescendo-ing into glory, is just one example of her masterful composition. “I grew a lot and have been able to put my feelings and emotions into my music.”

Although the decades-long loops of inspired hooks, dance beats and melodies have perpetually occurred for pop artists at large, Slayyyter’s signature is club ready, underground AND chart-friendly. Her music has reshaped perceptions of how “poppy” music can co-exist with alt elements forward. Always remaining true to her core, Los Angeles and its associations have not necessarily influenced Slayyyter, though the setting has been complimentary to her ascent.

“I am inspired by movies and music I grew up with... and pop culture,” she laughs. “I never feel like I fit in with a lot of people so most of my music and personal style is just coming from my head and things I love. I never really see myself as someone that fits into any particular scene in music or creative things.” Early origins of admiring icons like Britney Spears and the pop cult of girly youth, accessed through a 2000’s Disney lense, juxtaposed by Perez Hilton’s Hollywood heiress scandals, Slayyyter’s beginning bops, once bedazzled with bratty quips, have grown into an epic portrayal of a femme fatale clutching her heart beyond the party girl veneer.

Easily described as unapologetic, sexually and energetically, now met with “hell hath no fury of a (horny) woman scorned”, Slayyyter’s Troubled Paradise fulfills a complex vulnerability intrinsically empathetic to a bountiful breadth of listeners. Visual accompaniment for both the title track and “Clouds”, directed by Munachi Osegbu, bolster the fantastical frills that Slayyyter’s signature bops deserve, all whilst emboldened by an apex of aching lyrical work. At the utmost candid of her songwriting career yet, Troubled Paradise reveals a side fans have yet to eye, soaking wet with sadness, sin, sensuality, softness and circling back again, full-fledged. Slayyyter has arrived in full form.

Released today, Troubled Paradise is available on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon and more with merch available here.