Shygirl has subverted dance music throughout her reign as London’s freaky nightclub queen. Her songs examine sex and control, and seem to bubble up from the sticky surfaces of the discotheque floor. Shygirl thrives in a little bit of filth, and she spins it into the sublime on her shadowy club cuts. On “Come for Me,” the latest single from her long-awaited debut album Nymph, Shygirl emits icy dominance atop Arca’s intricate cyborg beats. The artists make a perfect pair: Shygirl’s voice burrows into Arca’s spitting snares and gulping bass. In its opening seconds, a slight electronic flutter evokes a machine blinking awake—a conduit for the artists’ mechanized erotica.
Part of Shygirl’s allure is the contrast between her soft, papery voice and her authoritative lyrics. Somehow her whispered demands are sharply effective–she doesn’t have to shout to get what she wants. On her new single, she repeats phrases like “come when you’re called” and “you’ll be free for me” as Arca manipulates their pitch and pace. One minute Shygirl sounds like a helium huffer, the next, like she’s singing into a bowl of jello. As the song continues, Arca strips back her production to highlight Shygirl’s rhythmic panting. Each modulation feels programmed yet seductive. It’s the sound of sex robots acing the Turing Test.
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