Under the moniker Giant Julie, songwriter and producer Yulya Divakova pens experimental pop music as enchanting as it is disquieting. Especially when you listen to “In My Room”, which doesn’t portray love as this fluttery, woozy feeling, but some kind of horror creature hiding under the bed, keeping you up all night. It might plausibly be why Divakova chose to depict love as Cerebrus, the three-headed Hellhound, for the artwork: in this particular room one can never ever leave.
“In My Room” moves at an eerie snail’s pace, using sub-bass synths as a suspenseful undercurrent, while sweeping string flourishes jump scare in and out of the frame. It’s however Divakova’s raw, incisive vocal delivery that holds the music’s center of gravity, creating a gripping tension that never quite releases.
Giant Julie: “When I was writing this song I got into Grimes, SOPHIE and serpentwithfeet, for example, and I was emboldened to make glitchy drum sounds and use sub as a bass. Frank Ocean’s music inspired me to make my voice more naked, more exposed in the song, and to use it almost as a percussive instrument by being precise about when words begin and end.“
“In My Room” is out now via Dutch imprint AT EASE. Listen to the song below.
