glaive Cements His Place in Music's Next Wave With 'all dogs go to heaven'
At its core, music is cyclical and carnivorous. Each genre or trend is an evolution or reimagining of another, with truly remarkable artists either transforming their original influences into something unrecognizable or fully embracing their inspirations to the point that they rise above them. Nowhere does this notion feel more salient than in the world of hyperpop, a genre that flourishes by pushing its disparate influences to their extremes until they near the point of breaking.
16-year-old artist glaive is one such artist heralding the intoxicating maelstrom that is hyperpop, and with the release of his sophomore EP, all dogs go to heaven, he makes a claim for the genre's nigh-universal appeal. all dogs go to heaven feels like a full-circle moment not just for glaive but for the genre itself. Fragments of midwest emo, emo rap, alternative, jersey bounce, PC Music, and pop-punk can all be found scattered throughout the EP's eight-track run. And they're not content to merely exist beside one another either, as they violently crash against one another to build a kaleidoscopic foundation for glaive's emotive vocals, which shift between pained and frenetic at a moment's notice, to shine brilliantly.
While the sentiments shared on all dogs to heaven are readily familiar - falling in and out of love, being a dirtbag, insecurities, coming-of-age, and the usual life-or-death trials and tribulations of teenagerdom - their method of delivery never falls flat. Whether it be on "poison," which borders on the realm of a The Kid LAROI cut, or on the previously-released "i wanna slam my head against the wall," whose deceiving intro lays the foundation for an infectious 0 to 100 ramp-up, glaive readily and regularly defies any and all expectations set by his debut EP or buzzworthy headlines.
As the titular outro signals the EP's inevitable close, glaive displays an unembellished sincerity that hints at what's to come for the 16-year-old artist who has been thrown to the forefront of the hyperpop scene. Juxtaposing the emotional candor of a stripped-back emo track with a cathartic, grandiose, and anthemic stadium-sized pop breakdown, glaive cements his place in music's next wave - a wave that will continue to surge even as one trending genre morphs into the next.
Listen to all dogs go to heaven below:
