Jealousy is rarely anyone’s most flattering emotion, but Holly Wild has absolutely no interest in pretending otherwise on ‘So Annoying’.
The Sydney artist’s latest single takes that very specific irritation of having a friend who seems effortlessly beautiful, successful and completely unbothered by life, then pushes every petty thought that comes with it into a wonderfully sarcastic burst of indie-pop rock.
Distorted guitars bring a scrappy garage-rock edge to the production, while hard-hitting drums give the track enough momentum to keep its frustration feeling energetic rather than bitter. Her lo-fi spoken delivery initially makes the song feel almost conversational, as though we have stumbled into an increasingly unfiltered rant between friends. But when the vocals become rougher and more forceful, that irritation finally spills over into something considerably bigger.
There are shades of the sharp humour that has long made pop-rock such fertile ground for songs about jealousy and insecurity, but Holly gives the idea her own personality by embracing what she describes as “friend-vy”. Most people recognise the feeling even if they’d rather not admit it, and ‘So Annoying’ succeeds because it says the embarrassing part out loud.
Arriving ahead of debut album ‘Technicolour’, ‘So Annoying’ also reveals another side of her developing sound. Previous collaborations and releases have already shown her pop instincts, but the added distortion, attitude and looseness here feel particularly well suited to her personality.
Funny, punchy and knowingly unreasonable, ‘So Annoying’ turns one of friendship’s less admirable emotions into an infectious pop-rock release, and has far more fun admitting it than pretending it was never there.