Manchester producer BUFFEE has released her debut EP Victory Lap via Bristol-based Spinny Nights, continuing the tastemaker label’s strong track record in championing eclectic experimental acts.
Mixing industrial ambient soundscapes with hardstyle and ethereal vocals, BUFFEE processes her teenage years through experimenting with the limits of what club music has to offer.
BUFFEE said about the record: “I started most of these songs when I was 19, hence the sharp swings between melodrama and hedonism,” and goes on to state that she wished to explore “the desire to fictionalise your experiences when on an emotional downturn, and how addictive it can be to do so.”
The sounds on Victory Lap are not always pleasant, wildly switching between sharp noise and gentle vocal melodies. It perfectly captures the tumultuous landscape of feelings you experience in your adolescent years.
At her live performances, BUFFEE is known to experiment and improvise rather than play finished songs, browsing YouTube for snippets she can use and speaking to the audience while layering new tracks. This is something she manages to capture on Victory Lap – a DIY sound that seems to be born of the moment and isn’t overproduced.
As a whole, the EP carries images of being in a club for the first time, the first drink ever drunk, the first heartbreak. It is visceral in its drama and angst, full of big build-ups and hardsyle samples. An emotional ride, Victory Lap lets us feel the nostalgia of being younger – without needing to experience our own angst again.
Words: Clara Bullock // Photo: BUFFEE (self-shot)
‘Victory Lap’ is out now via Spinny Nights. Stream or purchase the EP via Bandcamp.