#felicialu

[existentialmagazine]

Review: Felicia Lu’s newest single ‘Bitch’ challenges engrained sexism with an alt-pop sound that’s anthemically brilliant and highly catchy

The upcoming alternative-pop artist Felicia Lu has been making waves in the music scene for going on eight years now, with her upcoming debut album soon to release in just a few months that will truly solidify her place as a sure-to-be star in the making. Along with the excitement of her genre-blending styles and personal lyricism soon to reign free in a larger body of work, Felicia has also announced her first headliner show taking place at Flex in Vienna on September 30th this year. With all of that to come, Felicia’s newest single ‘Bitch’ really sets anticipation high for what to expect, an incredibly strong single that’ll undoubtably lead into the even more vast creative concoction to come.

Hazily leading in with whirring synth and bright keyboard chimes, ‘Bitch’ at first feels a little dreamy and warm, floating through tones that exude the same aura as those pink-tainted skies at sunset. Things swiftly kick off at the knocking of the first verse though, interrupted by dominant steady beats that grow as it progresses, a dark groovy bassline and continued vibrant keyboard pops all the while Felicia’s striking vocal performance takes centre stage. Quickly delivering a spoken-sung narrative, her speeding pacing is one that’ll have you completely mesmerised and eagerly singing along in no time, caught up on every single word as well as her gorgeously elegant but slightly angsty, half-irritated, half self-assured tone. The pre-chorus takes a moment to fade back into more subdued beats and more delicate synth, a moment of tranquility before one hell of an emphatic chorus hooks you right in. Soaring through a funky beat, cascading synth pulses, protruding bass and of course Felicia’s continued strong vocals, every second of ‘Bitch’ is one you can never truly get enough of, a near three minute journey we guarantee will take over hours of your listening time if you give it a chance.

Though it’s ardently catchy and one hell of an anthem to sing along with loudly, Felicia has still penned quite the thought-provoking narrative amidst the addictive tones of ‘Bitch.’ Enraged by the constant engrained sexism that still interweaves itself within our modern day society, Felicia sings of the double-standards against men and women when it comes to dating and exploring your sexuality, speaking of the disgusting difference in how men are celebrated for their flings whilst women are continually shamed for theirs. Leading with the question ‘why is it cool to talk about how many women you’re with, and already this week alone it’s been already your fifth?’, Felicia immediately looks to hold listeners accountable, getting under their skin and asking them to look deeper if they’d judge a women for the actions they happily continue to do and speak so freely on. Noting the outdated views, lines like ‘in your own tiny head it is still 1925’ seek to finally change this perspective towards something more fitting for today’s world, allowing everyone to embrace themselves however they wish without these continual sexist undertones that seep through from the past. Felicia isn’t at all ashamed of her lifestyle, nor should she be, and lyrics like ‘to live the life I choose to live, then I will gladly be never what they wanted me’ make that very clear, not wanting to be put into a box created by the small-minded and more than willing to be herself while she pleads for the world to at the very least rethink their old-fashioned views. Even when a woman so much has a one night stand it’s not long before a string of derogatory terms are labelled her way, and ‘Bitch’ really yearns to make a difference in changing people’s minds on how they choose to think, fed up of the hypocrisy that keeps women from freely expressing themselves: ‘whenever god knows its the other way around, men just turn into clowns like women are not allowed.’ It may be an absolute banger of a release, but ‘Bitch’ is equally important in the message it has to share, hitting every avenue for what you’d want from a song and more.

Check out ‘Bitch’ here to appreciate Felicia’s bombastic sound with a meaning unafraid to promote authenticity and self expression, tearing down sexist standards as it goes.

Written by: Tatiana Whybrow

Photo Credits: Unknown

// This coverage was created via Musosoup, #SustainableCurator.

[zigarettenliebe]

- Felicia Lu, Song Cover