The Weekly Coos

As with these musicians I highlight, I steer towards speaking positives more so than the negatives, considering they are flawed. They allow artists to have multi-dimensional depth and offer insight into strengths and weaknesses; with those weaknesses, fans will gather to follow the journey and eventually hear their growth. Fortunately, for an artist like Griff, her flaws are within this adjudicated realm where her strengths behind pure pop complexions aren’t as potent as when she weaves with her producers these unique concoctions that radiate and give us something fresh and memorable. Griff is an artist from Kings Langley, Hertfordshire, England, and her craft is something that doesn’t parallel many of the standard pop acts that push a faux indie-ness or glam identity with their music as opposed to coming off as more personable; it’s what makes her stand out more than some artists like The Kid Laroi and Zara Larsson, who don’t create lasting memorable hits and become afterthoughts after the first few limited hits. Griff, in some ways, is like them is flawed, but they are attachments to the music as we hear Griff sing more lukewarm productions.

My favorite work by Griff is her debut mixtape, One Foot In Front of The Other, which can tread some familiarity, but it’s a continuing growth that sees her applying more to the core textures of her sound that wasn’t so with her debut EP. “Heart of Gold” brings this radiating glitchiness into the production, subtly inserting itself in the vocals, which adds dimensions to a more simplistic construction beneath the verse sections. It has this personable 80s vibe, playing contrast to the bombastic compositions that got pop airplay, like what’d you think of when listening to some Haim records, just with a twist of earwormy catchiness that isn’t overly simplistic. One example is the song “Earl Grey Tea,” blending ticks and keys with moody synths to create this fantastic backing for a ballad-like performance that feels cottage-core. “Black Hole” contrasts that with something more bombastic, though not like the levels of Eddie Money’s “Take Me Home Tonight,” but more like if an early Billie Eilish song had more balance than chaos. Much of the production treads a safe line, not to palliate and overdo the compositions, instead finding a flow with concise in-song transitions. Griff expresses glee, heartbreak, and identity on my favorite off-the-tape, “Shade of Yellow.”

Griff has more of an identity, one where she’s showcasing her tender R&B laced vocals with more grand pop compositions, pushing outside borders like what Raye, Jorja Smith, and Joy Crookes do. It makes it clearer to hear where Griff fits among this plethora of female artists who have been cultivating their sound to be unique, and she does so with how the pop beats feel nuanced and vibrant within the expansive world of pop. Griff could best be described as Dark-Synth Pop meets R&B/Electronica, but she can be more than that; however, when she treads back toward more standard club/synth-pop (on her mixtape) you’ll notice that she follows similar patterns to maintain relevancy, even if they are at least somewhat adventurous. It gives you some equilibrium if you get enticed to hit that shuffle on her artist page on whatever streamer you use after reading this—from her Mirror Talk EP to her newly released Ver2igo Vol. 2, there is so much to hear from Griff; especially her last two EPs, which showcases two sides of Griff with sheer focus.

I would want to speak more on these new EPs, but I love the mystery more, meaning having you go into these newer EPs with a sense of wonder about what you will get compared to what I explained about her first two projects. I don’t write these pieces to push you away from an artist, I want you to explore like I do and keep discovering new acts that may become new faves. I have loved a lot of pop music coming from the UK recently, and Griff is another addition to the fray of pop acts who have held memorability with their releases over the last few years. I hope you get something from Griff, cause I know I did and she will remain one of the few memorable finds of the 2020s for me, and I hold no regrets because the music is that awesome. Give the tapes a spin, and let me know what you think in the comments.