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.

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Recorded alongside produced by Jag Jago (The Maccabees, Cassyette, Jamie T), ‘MADONNA’ is at once dark and gritty, yet retains an accessible commercial edge. Drawing influence from the darker edges of bands like Interpol, Placebo and Nine Inch Nails, alongside the pop sensibilities of Lady Gaga, Grimes and The Dare, Girl Apocrypha’s sound exists in the tension between grit and gloss, ultimately sitting in a mid-ground between grunge and synth-pop.

Growing from its synth led verse and spoken vocals the track reaches its explosive chorus as crunching distorted guitars bring an expansive pay off to contrast the lo-fi electronics of the verse.

Speaking about the track, Emia explains: “’MADONNA’ is probably one of the stupidest songs I have ever written and for that reason, it’s also one of my favourites. It’s obnoxious, camp, and such a celebration of the pop music that I grew up listening to and still love. Strangely, I wrote it at the same time as I wrote my, much more depressing, debut single ‘Dealer’ – it was a pretty hard time for me personally, but I did genuinely wake up from a strange dream about, well, everything I describe in MADONNA, and so I spent the day writing and recording the demo; for a few hours I was able to escape my real life and just indulge in this fun, shiny world where things were still bright and funny and completely unserious. To me, that’s what pop music is all about.”

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