Pixx – The Age of Anxiety

Try to imagine for a minute what it would sound like if Nico fronted an 80s synth band; now, stop imagining because that’s exactly what Pixx’s debut album The Age of Anxiety sounds like.

It’s pretty evident that 21-year-old BRIT school graduate Pixx is a big 80s head, blending the gothic post-punk of Siouxsie Sioux with the avant-garde synth-pop of Kate Bush, but she does it all with a modern electro-pop twist.

There are straight-up pop bangers all over The Age of Anxiety, with stand outs including Grip, Romance and Waterslides. Many of these tracks are likely to make listeners nostalgic for 2007-era electro-pop, when artists like Uffie, New Young Pony Club and CSS were certified popstars but also indie icons.

On the other hand, there are also some tracks on the darker end of the spectrum, where drone-y, distorted guitars play a bigger role, particularly on the menacing Toes and the Bauhaus-esque, gothic wonder Your Delight.

There are certainly some great tracks on the album but as a whole, it does seem slightly confused. It can be quite difficult to follow at times, as tracks jump from upbeat electro-pop to lo-fi indie to gloomy gothic rock with no real consistency.

With more thematic clarity and less of a throw in everything and the kitchen sink attitude, The Age of Anxiety could have been a phenomenal debut for Pixx. Despite the high quality of many of the tracks, however, there’s just a bit too much going on for it to all make sense.

Listen to: Romance, Toes, The Girls