Nigerian-Canadian electro-pop artist DEBBY FRIDAY returns with her bold and introspective sophomore album The Starrr Of The Queen Of Life.
Following on from her critically acclaimed debut album, Good Luck, and fresh off a tour supporting Spellling, Debby manages to illustrate both the fun dance club vibe and the emotional yearning that can often underlie it. Produced in conjunction with Australian producer and guitarist Darcy Baylis, whilst staying in London, it firmly stamps her authority on the scene.
As Debby explains her inspiration behind the album,
I want to be a starrr, I can’t hide that desire, but what I don’t want is to live someone else’s dream. I don’t want to follow a pre-set path, to do things ‘the way it’s always been done.’”
Album opener ‘1/17’ is very much in the club banger zone, evoking a futuristic vision of dance. Followed up by the Zara Larsson-esque ‘All I Want To Do is Party’ and 90’s influenced ‘In The Club’, it kickstarts the album with a jolt of high energy. The uber-hot ‘Lipsync’ follows and shows Debby at her sassy bad girl best.
Softer moments include the latest single ‘Alberta’, where Debby’s soulful delivery shines and draws you into the album’s most introspective song.
‘Leave.’ sees Debby using a multitude of vocal effects, including the vocoder, to create a unique sonic space which beautifully heightens the emotive subject matter. ‘Bet on Me’, is a hypnotic self-empowerment anthem full of joyful chants and driven by incessant breakbeats.
The eleven-track album closes with ‘Darker The Better’ with its anthemic vocals and layers of guitars, evoking Santogold. All in all, this album is a wonderful mish-mash of electro pop and soul, combined with ambient melancholic vibes and EDM beats, and even hints of R&B, all in Debby’s own inimitable style.
In her own words,
This album is about this idea of reaching towards something, it’s about seeing the signs and trying to follow that impulse, always with an undercurrent of the potential of either flying into the sun or falling back to earth.”
Upcoming tour dates:
25 September – San Francisco, CA – California Academy of Sciences
30 October – Brooklyn, NY – Public Records
7 November – Los Angeles, CA – The Moroccan Lounge
14 November – Mexico City, MX – Corona Capital Festival
21 November – Chicago, IL – Schubas
Follow DEBBY FRIDAY on instagram | tiktok | bluesky | X | facebook | website