Hi, everyone. Headthony Achtano here, the internet's busiest music nerd. It's time for a review of this horsegiirL EP, v.i.p. very important pony.

Yes, here we have a brand new EP from German DJ, electronic music producer and songwriter, horsegiirL, who is one of the most interesting and unlikely figures to get a buzz in the greater EDM scene as of late.

To cut to the chase, she is a horse. I mean, not literally a horse, but she is, in fact, a horse, much in the same way that Daft Punk are robots, or Marshmello is a marshmallow, or DeadMaus is a chain-smoking Canadian. And while what she does on the surface may seem a little silly, make no mistake, there is a history behind it, as it's all a part of a long lineage of electronic music artists embracing theatrics in order to bring some meaning as well as a narrative to their kicks and drops and synth arpeggios.

In the case of horsegiirL, that is her being a horse, doing horse stuff, being in the barn, being on the farm, eating hay, and writing tracks that engage in the greater mythos around horses. If you listen to songs from the back catalog of horsegiirL, such as "Saddle", as well as "Pegasus", and also the German "Hop, Hop, Hop" featuring MCRT, you should get a pretty solid idea of what, musically, horsegiirL is all about.

As musically on many of her tracks so far, she heads pretty boldly into Eurodance, Eurotrance, many different shades of house and hard style and dance pop. Some cuts she's dropped here and there have definitely had a bit of a hyper pop appeal to it, too, between the playful energy and the revivalism toward Y2K era pop esthetics. I feel like horsegiirL is continuing to broaden her palate, build her song back catalog, and also write her story with this new EP here, too.

Now, if there is a central theme to very important pony, it's the fame is changing horsegiirL. The opening track, in fact, is all about how now she prefers living in the city over being immersed in the farm life that she is more familiar with. She really just enjoys the convenience and luxury that her new lifestyle affords. The song "GIIRL MATH" is certainly an extension of that too, as it's this wild, bright, synthy fantasy that is all about a shopping spree where eventually things come crashing down as a result of the realization that horsegiirL has to pay for all of the stuff that she's grabbing really quickly. The closing track also is giving lonely at the top vibes, as many of the lyrics are about longing for a romance. There's an explosive breakbeat outro on the track, too, that I think is pretty sick.

So there's definitely some solid narratives and influences going into these cuts, but I will admit there are some aspects of horsegiirL's sound on this project that leave me wanting more. I wish the opening tracks and closing tracks, respectively, had a little bit more to say in terms of narrative building. I wish both were generally longer structure-wise, too. For a DJ who does a really great job, in my opinion, and has a lot of skill when it comes to building these lengthy multifaceted experiences, audiences in her DJ sets, these tracks themselves come across a little short of breath and one-dimensional. And while I'm sure on some level that makes it easier to work them into an overall set or something like that, in a solo listening capacity, they do leave me hanging.

The best tracks on this project truly are it's two biggest singles, starting off with the track "TAKE IT OFFFF", which is this pumping, electro pop and techno combo with some bassy kicks, a super smooth chorus, and even some of those Jersey Club bed creek samples for good measure. The track pretty much nails a perfect balance between being very low key but also snappy at the same time. And again, while I do find the track to be a bit brief, it does have just enough to it structurally and chorus-wise, too, to get by.

And there's also "EAT SLEEP SLAY REPEAT" on this record, which if you remember, was one of my favorite singles of last year. With this track, we're just getting a very tongue-in-cheek and entertaining gabber-type experience. Persistent electrifying kicks, sinister whispered lead vocals as well as some whipping synthesizers, too. The hyperactive chord stabs are a nice touch as well. It's just a lot of mayhem for such a preposterous song. Preposterous, but also creative, too. As the intensity of the track and the horse angles and the hay eating and all of that really do culminate into something that is truly unique.

"GIIRL MATH" that I mentioned earlier also contributes to the overall versatility of this project as it brings really some old-school German techno vibes. I love the great pacing and humor that the lyrics and vocals bring to the table, too.

But moving on from there, a track that I'm not quite as sold on is the song "BBY LUV x3 Love", which is attempting a very difficult combination of this lovesick ballad, but also simultaneously giving us a straight up hard style track with those trademark persistent distorted kicks, which I feel makes this song sound a little at odds with itself in a way, as it doesn't seem to really know whether or not it wants to dazzle you or bludgeon you with those abrasive kicks.

And as long as I'm complaining, I will say overall, I do feel like the production on this record, while it is acceptable, I think overall, as far as the styles of music that horsegiirL is operating in, it could definitely be a bit more vibrant and punchy. The vocals as well could be recorded and engineered in a way to where they come off a bit just brighter and more crisp. So next time around, I most definitely am going to have my fingers crossed for a sound and a presentation that is a bit bigger, a bit wider, especially as horsegiirL's ambitions take her to a place where she's really getting into album mode and potentially coming out with more music, and it seems like she's flirting with going in this direction, that obviously on some level still plays with the horse theatrics that she's known for, still horsing around, but also on some level, sounds in such a way to where it can be taken seriously, more seriously anyway, from just a basic electronic music fan perspective.

But yeah, overall, I feel like this EP is a bit of a mixed bag in terms of quality and consistency, but there's still quite a bit of potential here with what is going on, especially with the biggest highlights on the record, which is why I'm feeling a decent to strong 6 on it.

Anthony Fantano. horsegiirL. Forever.