Victoria Beverly Walker, commonly known as PinkPantheress, initially captured audiences with her hit song “Pain,” released in 2021. In 2023, she partnered with Ice Spice to make “Boy’s a Liar Pt. 2,” which is by far her biggest release to date. Fancy That is PinkPantheress’ first studio album. However, she released two mixtapes, To Hell with It and Heaven Knows, in 2021 and 2023, respectively. The record is a 20-minute EDM album with club music influences. I reviewed the album based on three factors: production, instrumentation and vocal delivery.
Instrumentation: 7.5/10
Production 8.3/10
Vocal delivery 8/10
Overall 7.8/10
Upon its release on May 9, Fancy That debuted at number three on the UK albums chart. Three tracks on the album—“Illegal,” “Tonight” and “Stateside”—all charted on the UK singles chart.
The opening track, “Illegal,” sets the tone for the instrumentation and influences found on the rest of the record. The song has a great mix of synths, which creates a dreamy atmosphere to the song, as well as a lot of reverb, which gives the song a cool distortion. The instrumentation pairs well with PinkPantheress’ soft vocals as she sings about the emotional confusion of doing something you’re not supposed to.
PinkPantheress has said that Fancy That differs from some of her other projects due to the overly flirtatious lyrics. She said in an interview with Capital Buzz that she “wanted to kind of bring a more mature vibe to everything.”
Tracks on the album such as “Tonight” and “Stateside” explore the narrator’s desire for romance and have a somewhat cheeky quality. I absolutely loved the production of “Stateside.” The guitar riff in the beginning that introduced the drum beat was perfect. The song is a great mix of electronic and dance music while still feeling raw and personal.
Some of the tracks suffer from the ultra-processed nature of EDM. PinkPantheress’ vocals on “Noises” were drowned out by the drum pad. When I could hear her voice, she sounded robotic and unnatural. The track could have benefited from a more stripped-down production to let PinkPantheress’ vocals shine.
The final song on the album, “Romeo,” is about an imperfect love interest whom the narrator can’t help but fall in love with. The song explores having an all-consuming crush with the lyrics, “You’re my Romeo. / Everybody laughs when I tell them so.” The song felt a bit repetitive towards the end, but it was a nice way to tie back the themes of romance throughout the record.
The album benefited from its short run time and song length. None of the songs felt like they dragged on, and they all felt distinct. Fancy That felt like a creative shift for PinkPantheress toward a more mature tone than some of her early projects, such as To Hell With It, which feels moodier and more juvenile. I’m looking forward to seeing how she expands on her growth in the next album.