The new generation of goth artists currently emerging are mostly millennial/Gen-Z cusps, raised on a diet of the noxious nu-metal of early 2000’s and My Chemical Romance, supplemented with the drama of Evanescence and HIM. But specific to this generation of alternative, children of the darkness is a sort of genre fluidity that sees them detach the notion of ‘goth’ from guitars and operatic choruses and apply it elsewhere, specifically in alt-dance genres like hardcore bass and trap. It makes sense, that in the age of technological enlightenment, that cybergoth should become the new goth standard in many ways, with the culture evolving as it establishes itself online like never before. It also makes sense that the inherent anti-establishment ethos of the culture should rebel against this shift, while simultaneously giving into it. Australia’s Zheani forms part of this guard, with her genrefluid style fusing trap, metal, and industrial then rolling it up in a bubblegum wrapper. Her sound is a product of her lived experience, and she’s been open about how growing up in rural Queensland has informed the direction of her aesthetic.
Her latest EP I Hate People On The Internet is an electropunk EP that evolves Zheani’s music in a natural progression away from the ‘fairy trap’ of her earlier work toward more violent territory. Pulling from cybergoth rave, trap, and nu-metal, it’s a bit Alice Glass, more so Grimes. But whereas the latter has embraced technology as a part of their cyborg persona, Zheani is raging against it. Or at least, the people who define themselves in accordance with it. The EP is hate mail to those “disembodied, difficult to empathise with, faceless” internet trolls, and an exercise in purging her own “poison hatred.”
Like its title might suggest, IHPOTI is fairly blunt with its critique on contemporary society. Take Fuck The Hollywood Cult, a drill’n’bass/metal monster on which Zheani recounts the things people have called her and links it back to the empty promises sold to her by television: “that’s what Hollywood sold me. And I will burn down your whole damn hill before you motherfuckers own me.” But it’s the song’s poignant interlude (that manages to sneak in a genius Metallica reference) that really reveals the nuance in Zheani’s anger. “The cult grooms their next crop of whores. And they’re rewarded with mountains of gold for a crime untold,” she evangelises through a megaphone like the messiah of the pariahs. On Napalm, she addresses her “daddy’s girls” online haters, warning them that by messing with her they’re “playing with napalm.” Her directness is quite refreshing, especially for such a young artist and, significantly, her rage never feels forced or performative. Most of her lyrics are screeched with hellish intensity, though sometimes it does veer into tongue in cheek taunting. Designer Sadness is chanted with a teasing cheerleader peppiness, calling out posers who dress up like her for the clout. The dichotomy between We’re All Gonna Die’s lyrics and its helium pitched hyperpop production is hilarious, a nihilistic snakebite that closes off the EP.
Download & stream I Hate People On The Internet here
Zheani has been characteristically outspoken for the duration of her career thus far. 2019’s Satanic Prostitute comes to mind. That EP in particular arose after 2018’s The Line was taken down from streaming platforms following controversy over its now infamous final track The Question, in which Zheani openly calls out Die Antwoord for emotional and sexual abuse. Looking back at her most obvious foremother, Alice Glass, Zheani’s approach to no-nonsense truth telling is perhaps her most paramount quality as an artist. Though she and her music have room to grow, there’s a sort of authenticity to her that can’t be learnt. It makes listening to I Hate People On The Internet a truly engaging experience, despite its brashness and at times total auditory assault. Emerging at the forefront of the next generation of alt-electro weirdos, Zheani is one to watch. In her hands, no one is safe and they’re all the better for it.
Watch the music video for Designer Sadness from I Hate People On The Internet below.
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