There’s something to the visualizer for girl_irl’s single “float” with an avatar that looks like a video game avatar of songwriter Em Perlman working out her boxing moves. With vocals that are both dispassionate and bold over a beat of layered percussion dynamics and other electronic elements that bring an air of the menacing and mysterious the song is reminiscent of something we might have heard from one of the more introspective periods of Charli XCX’s career. The vocals at times are more in the foreground and others laying back in the mix like she’s sparring with a would be suitor who is more a persistent distraction than someone to take seriously. It’s a nuanced sentiment throughout the song even as it contains a bit of coolly detached bravado as on one hand the desire for attention is acknowledged in the way any musical artist, or really any person, would want but nothing beyond that from anyone that isn’t a serious person and who isn’t really interesting. The line in the chorus “Keep a picture of me on your night stand” and a line later in the song “Don’t be scared of the one you’re desiring” after a bit about the suitor’s girl trying to become the narrator’s best friend really illustrates the kind of person being addressed who simps but won’t commit and underneath that veneer of devotion is someone whose intentions should always be questioned. Somewhere between an experimental hip-hop track and an electronic dance song, “float” is a vivid portrait of a variety of human at a particular point in his life that wastes everyone’s time including his own with muted amorous adventurism. And as the boxing avatar, girl_irl dodges and weaves out of the pantomime of passive-aggressive wannabe romantic gestures with style and wit. Watch the video for “float” on YouTube and follow girl_irl at the links below.
Queen City Sounds and Art 
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