The world news cycle these days has been a gigantic bummer and any attempt to escape it has only been half-successful at best. Jack Hippo‘s fluorescent psych pop single “Freedom Girl” addresses this sense of dread aptly, a sonic joyride with a palpably sinister edge to it.
“Freedom Girl” takes vain refuge from grim realities, with the erratic synth and guitar parts sounding like a carousel reflected in a funhouse mirror. Liam Gruijters – the artist behind the recording project – says about the character he sketches in the song: “The ‘Freedom Girl’ in question is someone who cannot handle the world well and tries to escape this place. Unfortunately, that doesn’t work out too well.”
After “Sad Man” and “Leave Us”, “Freedom Girl” is the third glimpse of Jack Hippo’s debut LP Guess I Need My Other Friends, which comes out on December 12th. It’s a record full of playful, boisterous energy in which various characters struggle with the unpredictability of the world around them. Gruijters – who also plays drums with fantastic indie pop quipsters Socks;SportsSocks – establishes an adventurous pop sound that fans of Animal Collective, Oneohtrix Point Never or Stereolab will surely appreciate.
Watch the visualizer for “Freedom Girl” below, or find the song on streaming services.
