I Disagree by Poppy | Album Review

The third studio album from the YouTuber turned innovative metal artist sees her at peak creative alchemy.

Credit: Sumerian Records, Warner Music Corp

The name Poppy didn’t mean much to me until I watched season 12 of RuPaul’s Drag Race. It was the Snatch Game episode, in which the queens had to impersonate celebrities and take part in a joke version of Match Game. The iconic Crystal Methyd chose to portray the young YouTube star and burgeoning musician with minimal success.

It planted a seed in my mind, and I couldn’t help but find myself interested in the android persona Poppy presented. I immediately grew intrigued when I saw online that she had started making her name as a death metal artist. And when I saw Poppy had a new album on the way this year, I knew I had to review her, and I’m so glad I immersed myself in her unhinged musical world.

My first taste of Poppy comes with her 2020 LP I Disagree, which finds her entirely at home in a uniquely chaotic brand of metal. At times, she embodies kawaii and acts like Babymetal, while other times, she comes off as deadly, serious, and super heavy. She slips several electropop tracks in the mix but never let yourself get too comfortable. At any moment, she might decide to explode randomly with sudden bursts of aggressive, abrasive metalcore.

She kicks things off with a track that fully embodies this chaotic ethos, the “Poppymetal” extravaganza “Concrete.” Between the air raid sirens, wild guitar riffs, campy harpsichord-driven bridge, and sugary sweet outro, it’s an assault on the ears in the best way, creating a fully realized sound that’s impressive for an artist as early in her career as Poppy.

Following that comes the title track, another pop-metal monster that brings the house down with its chorus, simultaneously crushing and catchy. Lyrically, Her robot character seemingly gains sentience, dissatisfied with her treatment and demanding vengeance:

Let it all burn down

Burn it to the ground

We’ll be safe and sound

When it all burns down.

The hits keep coming when we land on Grammy-nominated single “Bloodmoney.” This industrial metal banger has super crunchy and distorted verses balanced with a cleaner, sleeker chorus. Lyrically, it’s one of her most focused efforts yet, brutally calling out the hypocrisy of the loudly religious. The line “beg for forgiveness from Jesus the Christ” will be burned into my brain for some time, her delivery is so potent.

And then we get “Anything Like Me,” another wild, genre-mashing experiment that succeeds brilliantly. Poppy smartly pairs groovy verses and crushing guitar riffs with a remarkably delicate and beautiful mid-section, reminiscent of something Yeule would create. All this color and creativity comes in the first four songs; she doesn’t stop there.

My only sticking point with the record is a lull in the middle that either doesn’t incorporate any metal or incorporates it poorly. “Nothing I Need” is the former. While it sounds lovely, I admit, it feels out of place among the rocking bangers that dominate the tracklist.

“Fill The Crown” fits the latter category. Most of the song is built on an acoustic pop base, with odd industrial hip-hop sections smash cut next to these glossy verses. Instead of feeling intensely crafted like earlier songs, it comes off as slapdash.

But any complaints I have quickly get swept away when we arrive at the closing track, “Don’t Go Outside.” It is the longest song on I Disagree at six minutes, and it’s also some of her most sophisticated work. She begins with a haunting acoustic ballad detailing what sounds like an apocalyptic future. However, the song eventually expands into a euphoric metal anthem, with Poppy interpolating lyrics and melodies from earlier songs on the record. It’s a brilliant close to a highly innovative record and leaves me hungry for what Poppy has to serve next.

Production: 8/10

Lyrics: 7/10

Songwriting: 8/10

Overall: 7.5/10

Favorites: I Disagree, Bloodmoney, Anything Like Me, Don’t Go Outside

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Thank you for reading! What did you think of this album? Feel free to leave a comment with your thoughts, and I’ll see you in the next review!