Those embarking on discourse around the ‘grunge revival’ movement have skipped over a few key figures, ones who were channeling this nineties-style distortion and aesthetics a number of years ago. One of those is , the project of . Built on a foundation of heavy guitars and swamped-out drums, Fuentes took heavy inspiration from the surroundings of New York City, culminating in a slew of projects that feel like a love letter to a scene that spawned nearly forty years ago. Instead of rehashing the sounds she cut her teeth on, Fuentes has found different ground on second album ‘Anarchy’, a whiplash-inducing departure from the grunge vignettes of prior work. Instead of inspiration coming from the sounds of the nineties, Fuentes is now borrowing from the present music zeitgeist.

‘Anarchy’ ditches the fuzz pedals and surrenders itself to a spectrum of electronic sounds. Fuentes adopts elements of jerk and trap, hints of British rave colliding with the shoegaze-y nature of . ‘Sunset’ sits on a bed of barely legible guitars and feedback, a Jersey club kick pattern pushing the track further into rave territory. ‘Black n Blue’ also blends delicate guitars with heavy drums, but we’re also treated to the other end of the spectrum with tracks like ‘UrNewImTrue’ distorted to near destruction. It’s a record as much inspired by and as it is ; relenting sonic clashes culminating in these mostly mellow tracks. There’s an intimacy to ‘Anarchy’. Though the palette is crammed with blown out textures and abrasive synthesis, the album holds a serene quality, occasionally feeling like a softer interpretation of SALEM. Oscar Scheller took the bulk of the production reins here, his typical penchant for slick and smart pastiche with throwback sounds sidelined in exchange for a more modern, digital array of sounds.

Fuentes mentioned in a past interview that she has “a bad habit of anything I listen to starting to sound mirrored in my own music”. This is a quote from five years ago but seems to still be apt, with ‘Anarchy’ rarely carrying the idiosyncrasy that previous Pretty Sick projects have done. The album does assert a specific temperament, despite frequently borrowing from the ‘in’ London sounds of right now. But on the whole, Fuentes cultivates a woozy world, lightly flitting between extreme textures whilst managing to retain an air of tenderness.

8/10