COBRAH: COBRAH | 4ZZZ Brisbane 102.1FM

- COBRAH, the self-titled EP from the self-described Swedish ‘BDSM pop’ singer, is unlike the conveyor belt pop that Swedish songwriters are known for, instead opting to indulge in mechanical sounds, rather than in the machine itself. Like the collection of bimbo marxist tracks that it is, COBRAH’s new EP is a tightly-wound downward spiral, plunging with immediacy into chaos.

In Good Puss, the EP’s manifesto, COBRAH projects her desires while a throbbing beat scorches the track like a rolling boil. Over it’s runtime, her production slowly intensifies until it’s engulfed into an all-out wall of noise. It embraces the campy nature of dubstep, undercutting it with a contemporary, queer identity. In the video for Good Puss, she’s creatively unbound and ...trussed up at the same time: suspended from the ceiling with chains, swinging through the air and slashing with sharp acrylic nails.

Bang -another cut that flirts with dubstep- blends the house production of the EP’s calmer moments with razor sharp samples that are some kind of mutant hybrid between the revved engine of a Ferrari and the slash of a knife. I’d quote a lyric from this track, but it’d be bleeped by the editor, so I’ll let COBRAH do this herself in a moment.

Right from the EP’s kick-off on Dip n Drip, COBRAH’s energy is ferocious. Comparable to the dissonant terror of Arca’s Mutant and Stretch days, to Bottomless Pit by Death Grips and a more palatable Azealia Banks, this track and EP in its entirety feel fearless and sexy in its sincerity.

COBRAH, the EP and the musician, are high octane and irreverent. Though she describes it best herself, “Eat lunch, I serve / A real good puss.”

- Sean Tayler.