Brighton solo artist Girl Apocrypha dives into darker territory on ‘Like Adam Would’, a visceral collision of grunge, industrial rock and electronica built around an infatuation so intense that only biblical imagery will suffice. Following the brighter synth-pop and electroclash leanings of her single ‘Madonna’ and the more stripped-back grunge of ‘Thank God!’, this latest offering retains her distinctive theatrical flair while dragging it into something altogether heavier and more unsettling.
A blast of distorted guitar hooks you in immediately, carrying a strong Nine Inch Nails influence before the track begins twisting its way through grunge guitars and undercurrents of industrial synths. Girl Apocrypha’s vocal is equally shape-shifting, at times carrying shades of Trent Reznor’s tense, almost claustrophobic delivery before softening as the song slips into its more weightless moments. There is something deliberately disorientating about the way ‘Like Adam Would’ moves, never settling comfortably into one sound before another texture takes its place. Heavy, hazy, electronic and abrasive in turns, it’s a melting pot that somehow holds together through sheer personality.
That intensity makes a fitting home for a song about all-consuming desire. Girl Apocrypha describes its subject as an infatuation “so intense I could only bear to explain as biblical. Holy”, and the music feels suitably obsessive, dramatic and larger than life. The accompanying video adds another layer with its scrappy 90s DIY aesthetic, providing a raw visual counterpoint to the song’s theatrical darkness. ‘Like Adam Would’ might be one of Girl Apocrypha’s darker turns, but it’s also further proof of an artist seemingly uninterested in making the same song twice.
