tempobet yeni adresi
like this cd / vinyl / digital review

10/10/2019 : AMY STUDT - Happiest Girl in The Universe

AMY STUDT

Happiest Girl in The Universe

MusicCD / Vinyl / Digital
Dark PopIndieLo-fiSinger Songwriter

[100/100]   

Rough Trade
10/10/2019, Ash MCAULIFFE

"I don't wanna die before I learn to live my life, unrehearsed

Wanna live my life like the happiest girl in the universe."

It has been 16 years since Amy Studt released her first album “False Smiles.” 260,000 copies sold, a string of hit singles, followed by the powerfully mature (and underrated) second record “My Paper Made Men” in 2008. Which begs the question. How does a former major-label pop star metamorphosis into a chanteuse of dark, introspected chamber-gloom? Easy. She lives her life and ploughs all of that life experience into the creation of a magnum opus!

For many music fans like myself, introspection can be incredibly lonely. For those intensely in tune with their emotions and feelings, music usually plays a massive part in their lives. So, it’s with a huge debt of gratitude that we have the release of records like this one that can serve as a channel and a positive outlet for those dealing with their own inner worlds.

It has been a long time coming but “Happiest Girl In The Universe” was surely worth the wait. Its power is in its intimacy. It’s a spinetingling “narrative diary of depression, hope and redemption.” The atmosphere can often feel quite claustrophobic but what Amy is actually doing is pulling you closer to her to give you a one-on-one experiential ride with this record. It’s a window into the very soul of Amy Studt. They say music is therapeutic and this album is proof. Every single cell has been expunged and bled into this album. The catharsis that comes when we reach the title track and realise that even in the darkest of times hope is still there is exhilarating.

Yet the record is also an exorcism of sorts. Album highlights like "Overdose", "The Water" and "Let The Music Play" allow years of turmoil to be purged and unleashed, giving rise to the most incredibly heartfelt yet shackle-breaking record of recent memory. This is an artist revitalised and completely reborn. It’s a beautiful album all the same and full of wonderful melodies and hooks. "I Was Jesus In Your Veins" is a classic alternative pop song without a shadow of a doubt and I defy anybody to resist that chorus! It's an album with a unique type of darkness that is intoxicating but not overbearing. It is an arresting album vocally with an understated urgency. The haunted hushed lulling adding to the overall complexity of the albums subject matter. An immensely talented songwriter and musician, Studt composed all tracks on the record. The importance of an empirical record, once again, cannot be denied! It’s a record with a manifesto to inspire and leave its imprint on the very heart of the listener.

A highlight of 2019. No doubt about it.

Release Date - 4th October 2019

Ash MCAULIFFE
10/10/2019


 

Next reviews
NUMB • Mortal Geometry
JE T'AIME • Je T'aime
FOXY • X-Ray Spex Tribute
GRENDEL • Ascending The Abyss
SUICIDE COMMANDO • Hellraiser
W - FEST, AUG 18TH 2019
MEAGER BENEFITS • Crawling
PREEMPTIVE STRIKE 0.1 • Harbringer
NAIROD YARG • Nairod Yarg
LES NEGRESSES VERTES • Live @ Moods Festival, Brugge - Belgium - 2.08.2019

 

Same genre: DARK POP
DARK MINIMAL PROJECT • Pleasure Is A Sin
LUC VAN ACKER • It's Been A While (Single)
CELESTIAL NORTH • When The Gods Dance
DD SANCHEZ • StRaNgE
THIS ETERNAL DECAY • Silence
THIRD REALM • The Art of Despair
VARIOUS ARTISTS • DARKSIDE OF THE CON III
DEZ MONA • Book Of Many
BLUTENGEL • Black
GLAARE • To Deaf and Day

 

Same genre: INDIE
WHISPERING SONS • The Great Calm
DEZ MONA • LOOSE ENDS
SJOBLOM • Tape
MONICA RICHARDS & ANTHONY JONES • AESTUARIUM
THIS CAN HURT • Worlds Apart
LISA MORGENSTERN • Chameleon
L7 • Scatter The Rats
VUKOVAR • Cremator
TINY FIGHTER • Tell Me
DRAGON WELDING • Dragon Welding

 

Same genre: LO-FI
CONFORMIST FEAT. H O R S E S • Heddiw
STACIAN • Person L
XOSAR • Xymeria
LUXVID • Trench
SUBHEIM • Foray
MATT ROCK • Get Blank
LOREN NERELL AND MARK SEELIG • Tree Of Life
THE MEN • New Moon
MONGOLITO • Acedia
DER BLUTHARSCH • Concert at Magasin4 in Brussels on 15th March 2012

 

Same genre: SINGER SONGWRITER
LEIF VOLLEBEKK • Twin Solitude
CANNAERTS & VAN CUTSEM • Mechelen, Theater M/Moonbeat (08/10/2016) CD-presentation
SUZANNE VEGA • Borgerhout, De Roma (06/10/2016)
LIEN SCHOETERS • Rijmenam, Rijmrock (20/08/2016)
EZRA FURMAN • Big Fugitive Life
PETER NORDBERG • Om Man Inte Är Här
THE ANCHORESS + FIONA BRICE • London, Bush Hall (15/06/2016)
LEYLA MCCALLA • A Day for the Hunter, A Day for the Prey
CHRIS COHEN • As If Apart
EYEMER • Temporarily Colourblind

Music reviews

09
10
NERO/GRIS
Silenci
07
10
SUBATOMIC STRANGERS
Resuwrecked
01
10
BLOKKONTROLL
I-II-III
28
09
SUNSHINE BLIND
Scarred but Fearless
27
09
DARK MINIMAL PROJECT
Pleasure Is A Sin
26
09
PROMENADE CINEMA
Afterlife

NEWSLETTER

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

NEWS

14
10
43 years of “Wahre Arbeit, Wahrer Lohn” by Die Krupps: A Blueprint for Industrial Resistance
09
10
Baby Turns Blue and 43 today!
03
10
BIMFEST XXIII – 2026 - Full Line-Up Announced!
28
09
De Delvers announces third full-lenght album 'Zwarte Siroop'
27
09
CURSE MACKEY Unveils ‘Imaginary Enemies’, A Darkwave Descent Into Grief & Revelation
25
09
Today, exactly 38 years ago The Klinik released 'Plague'!

Concert reviews

17
08
KRAFTWERK
Royal Palace Open Air - Brussels - August 14 2025
22
04
GAVIN FRIDAY
Live at 404 / De Vooruit - Ghent - 01/04.2025
28
11
BELGIAN ELECTROWAVE IS NOT DEAD 3
Belgian ElectroWave Is Not Dead 3

GET A COPY OF OUR MAGAZINE
SEND TO YOUR HOME

INTERVIEWS

27
09
CORPUS DELICTI
''All is quiet, the motion's cold. I face the wind as I'm taking the road.''
18
09
WHISPERS IN THE SHADOW
This album isn’t about bashing religion and faith. That would be a pretty cheap trick.
17
09
ZWAREMACHINE
We were able to secure the support slot for Front 242. Everything was looking positive until Bas’s cancer reemerged and there were complications.
27
08
BEAUTIFUL FREAKIN' WEIRDO
An Interview With UK Industrial Metal Act, Beautiful Freakin' Weirdo
29
07
EX-VOTO
“Decisions. In a modern time. Transmissions. From the inner mind.“

PHOTOS

21
09
KRUPPS
Kulttempel Oberhausen
12
09
ULTRA SUNN
De Casino St Niklaas
12
09
ULTRA SUNN
De Casino St Niklaas
08
09
AUX ANIMAUX SUPPORT SHE PAST AWAY
Kulttempel Oberhausen
07
09
SHE PAST AWAY
Kulttempel Oberhausen
17
08
NEW MODEL ARMY
Summerkultur Dinslaken
23
07
DUCTAPE
Amphi Festival Keulen

ADVERTISE
IN PEEK-A-BOO

VIDEO CLIPS

17
10
ZANIAS
Unseen (Official Video)
16
10
DOPE
Blood Money
15
10
SOFT CELL
Martin (The Hacker 2025 Remix)
14
10
DARK MINIMAL PROJECT
Schlafen !
13
10
PEAK FLOW
Don't Die In Your Sleep (Remix)
13
10
CRASH COURSE IN SCIENCE
Flying Turns (Live @ BIM 2009)
12
10
COCTEAU TWINS
Hazel