California’s Violent Vickie has been rolling out captivating dark electronica for the better part of a decade. Her releases have, in the past, blurred the lines between electropop, darkwave, techno, riot grrrl and many other genres besides. And no matter what she puts out, you can guarantee that it’ll be delivered with her own distinctive style.
In April she dropped “Serotonin”. Powered by a stylish video, rich with gothic imagery, it blew up, clocking in over 13,000 views on her YouTube channel alone. “Serotonin” also signaled a resurgence, as it was her first major release since 2017’s “Fuck Boy”.
Now Violent Vickie has dropped “Circle Square”. While it shares some similarities with “Serotonin”, it leans more into electronica. The latter’s guitars are replaced by signal noise, glitches, and unique synths. All powered from the start by throbbing bass and solid beats which never allow the pulse to falter.
Contrasts matter here. Not only between “Circle Square” and “Serotonin”, but also within the song itself. “Circles” and “Squares” for one. Then there’s that cover. Vickie curled up in the fetal position, long black hair hiding her from the world. All while under the glare of intense neon lighting which gives her no place to hide.
Her vocal delivery wouldn’t be out of place on a shoegaze track. It’s ethereal, indistinct, and makes teasing out the lyrics difficult. But the words themselves are pretty simple. Short sentences, limited word count, repeating phrases.
When you catch them, you’ll find that the lyrics continue the theme. Here Vickie is someone out of place, at odds with, in contrast to, the world around her and how she’s perceived. Lines like “I stumble along. In your world I’m something wrong” and “You think I’m something” are simple but say so much.
It’s encouraging that “Circle Square” dropped so close to “Serotonin”. Hopefully this means that we’ll be hearing a lot more from her over the coming months.
You can find Violent Vickie here:
