Poppy’s upcoming album, Negative Spaces, is shaping up to once again find the genre adventurist boldly marching to the beat of her own eclectic drum. One month out from record’s release, the artist has pulled another versatile pair of previews out of the void, this time vaulting from hook-slammed metal towards all-gloss synth-pop.
“the cost of giving up,” which had been teased through Poppy’s socials over the weekend, is the most aggressive of the two new tracks, though it technically locks into a melancholically anthemic kind of hard-rock heaviness up front. Above the dark, detuned guitar chords, oscillating synth-bass and gauzy piano ambiance, Poppy’s soaring vocal goes extra self-analytical (“Maybe I’m the one I’m running from / It’s too much to carry, it’s all getting heavy”).
Poppy also powers up for a round of gnarly screams in the bridge, which is likewise intensified with machine-gunning djent riffs and double-time drum thwacking, before getting back to that high-drama chorus hook. She also exits the song with a rumbling guttural. You can hear it for yourself up above.
“crystallized” takes a much different approach, propelling itself through a pulse-quickening four-on-the-floor beat and the prismatic shimmer of aerobic Eighties synth-pop. Thematically, Poppy’s lyrics are keeping things iridescent (“My heart is full of diamonds… all my tears are crystallized”). The visuals keep up the Lilliputian influence introduced in the earlier Negative Spaces singles, with a giant Poppy now taking a bite out of a tiny doppelganger. You can see the video down below.
As previously reported, Negative Spaces has already been teased through Poppy’s industrial-stomping “new way out” single, as well as the metalcore-pounding “they’re all around us.” The album was co-produced alongside former Bring Me the Horizon member Jordan Fish and is said to continue Poppy’s journey as “an ever-evolving artist redefining their legacy one song at a time.”
Negative Spaces is due out November 15th via Sumerian Records.
In other news, Poppy also recently premiered her experimental, puppet-co-starring variety show, Incredibly Poppy. Featuring skits, interview segments, music and more, the six-episode run is available now through Veeps.