The alt-pop disruptor Piper Connolly begins her new remix EP "GLITCHGIRL. EXE" with a bang, or rather, a system restart. "welcome back girl (hi 5 remix)" is a digital-age fever dream kicked off with a reimagining of her cult-favorite track replete with neon-splashed flair, a snarl that you can't ignore.
In the opening moments, Piper wrings the original's DNA into something fiercely fresh and perversely pop, a hyperpop tornado with an industrial edge and a hint of arcade recollections. It is introduced with a glitchy, flickering beat that sounds like someone had fun with a corrupted file, but every distortion feels intentional, playful, and energy-packed. It's as if your favorite early-2000s pop anthem was filtered through a sentient computer and slapped.
If anything makes "welcome back girl (hi 5 remix)" stand out, it is its shameless personality. It's manic, it's meta, it's oh so Piper. She embraces GLITCHGIRL's sense of chaos, distorting vocals as though they're data in motion and piling textures that by rights should be incoherent but somehow aren't. There's an odd comfort in how the remix throws its arms around sloppiness, making space for a punched-up synth here, a jarring transition there, and a chorus that crashes like a sudden dopamine rush.
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