Single review: Boy’s a liar – PinkPantheress

Print Music Editor Jake Avery reviews PinkPantheress’ hit song ‘Boy’s a liar’.

PinkPantheress’ new single continues to exhibit her signature soft-spoken vocal flare, one that is rooted in the vibrancy of early 2000’s R&B and dance music. Looping hooks that evoke an early 2000’s Nokia ringtone establish a nostalgic sound, an attribute that contrasts well with the swift keyboard chords and drum machine beats that accompany them. Her ability to integrate classic dance rhythms into a sound that is simultaneously reminiscent of the past and future is in part due to the syrupy vocals at the track’s epicentre. There’s a digital-style to the lyrical delivery that roots its sound in contemporary culture whilst still harkening back to an era when electronic motifs were new. The balance maintained throughout her corpus of work thus far is also maintained here; her tender vocal delivery plays well, allowing for sporadic electronic patterns and thumping basslines to elevate and not hinder her.

Lyrically, the track centres around a relationship with a fickle boy, with the title bluntly referring to his insincerity; the intentions behind the love are inspected, picked apart and doubted, with the second portion of the chorus repeating the phrase ‘Good enough, ‘ough-‘ough’, accounting for both the narrator’s own self-doubt within the relationship and the partner’s lack of commitment. The simplistic narrative behind the track allows for a broad appeal, a trait that many PinkePantheress tracks possess due to their frequent musings on growing and developing as a young adult. The sorrowful nature of the topic at hand doesn’t overflow and sink the mood of the track, however; a graceful charm is retained through the fusion of PinkPantheress’ velvety vocal lines and electronic chimes. 

‘Boy’s a liar’ serves as another brilliant track from an artist that continues to move from strength to strength. Decorated with fruitful melodies and hooks, it has the scope to be blasted on a speaker as a heartbreak anthem or to be listened to as a mellow, pocket-sized ode to self-discovery and romantic challenges.