Debby Friday doesn’t give a fuck about genres. On her sophomore EP, Friday blends elements of drill, punk, 90s techno, industrial, and more to create songs that pulse with dark power and raw confidence.
Album opener “Tear the Veil” sets the tone. A slow-burning number comprised of little beyond booming electronic beats, the song lays out Friday’s mission simply and plainly: “I want it? I get it/ I said, I want it? I get it.” What she wants on Death Drive is to explore every style on the darker end of the genre spectrum.“Fatal” is a shadowy dance number about the destructive power of love, with serrated synths that cut across a throbbing, hypnotic beat. “Treason” is overtly industrial—four minutes of electrical crackling behind an ominous bass beat and distant, garbled screams. The tone shifts radically on “Good and Evil,” a pulse-quickening raver that opens with rhythmic beat boxing and gradually gains speed until Friday appears with a scream about one minute in, kicking the song into high gear. It’s tempting to read some of this restlessness in the context of her backstory: Friday emigrated to Montreal from Nigeria as a child, and is now based in Vancouver; it’s possible that being in an “in-between” state is where she’s most comfortable. Another way to look at it, though, is in that opening track: whether it’s rave, drill, industrial, or punk—if Friday wants it, she gets it.
