Penfriend, Exotic Monsters or the triumphant return of Laura Kidd

Laura Kidd, photo courtesy of Wilful Publicity

In her first album under new moniker Penfriend Laura Kidd shows us how much she has grown as a songwriter and producer

It was in 2019 that Laura Kidd, having happily made music under the  name She Makes War for nine years, decided a change was due. When she started her musical career in 2010, she felt as though it was her - an aspiring DIY artist - against the world, hence She Makes War. But by the end of 2019 she had left the London music scene behind and was happily established in Bristol with a well respected, hard fought for reputation as a session musician as well as performer in her own right. She was no longer making war, she was simply making music, and doing so in a way that felt collaborative rather than combative: Reaching out to listeners, making friends with them. Hence, Penfriend.

Given that Penfriend launched in the dying days of 2019, just as the pandemic was poised to take hold in China, it's a testament to Kidd's adaptability and resilience that she's not only continued to write, record and produce (all from her home studio, The Launchpad) throughout 2020 and 2021, but that she's also launched a successful podcast, Attention Engineer.

This debut album as Penfriend was released on Friday 21st May, is named after a line from a Margaret Atwood novel, and - while nodding at times to Kidd's previous work as She Makes War - above all else demonstrates what an accomplished, assured and sophisticated songwriter/producer she has become.

The opening title track is a sparse, dystopian slice of minimalist electro that sounds like the soundtrack Terry Zwigoff's Ghost World never knew it needed. Kidd further experiments with the electro oevre on 'I used to know everything', a moogy synth pop piece which is slow, moody and very 1980s, 'I wasn't made for this world' she sings at one point. There's electro flourishes elsewhere too and one of the most innovative sonic experiments is 'Loving Echoes', which features eerie vocals stylings and rough, pared down synthetic percussion. It has the feel of an electro take on The Slits but the subject matter is digital dystopia, with Kidd singing about the horrors of being in thrall to technology during lockdown while simultaneously experiencing digital and emotional disconnections and alienation. The result is eerie, innovative, evocative and quietly savage. Very 2021. 

'Dispensable Body' fuses sunny electro with a style of indie pop that is reminiscent of the late 1980s and early 1990s indie only more intricate and delicate sounding. It's got a big swooping, swooning chorus and is eerie and anthemic in a delicate, summery kind of way. 'Seashaken' is also experimental, with a toy piano riff to start that gives way to banjo and gorgeous layered vocals. It's woozy and minimalist, pretty and childlike with a hint of strings, like a lullaby. 

Kidd hasn't abandoned her guitar however, as evidenced by the melodic grunge of 'Seventeen', some truly epic guitar riffs on 'Hell Together', and the anthemic 'I'll start a fire', which is reminiscent of mid period Hole. 'Cancel Your Hopes' is another surging slice of grunge rock, which is enhanced by nightmarish keyboard riffs, taking the listener into a sonic descent into a dark, claustrophobic garage rock hole. It has a fantastic freewheeling moshability quality, with excellent riff work and crisp percussion that nods to the best work of L7. 

The album closes with 'Black Car', a pandemic era anthem of dread, fear and death which is signified by the lyrical motif of the funereal black car. It is perhaps the most lyrically and musically sophisticated track on the album and is a strong contender for song of the year, evoking as it does the fear and dread of lockdown in the UK, and perhaps beyond. 'Keep your loved ones close, even on calm waters waves will rise' she sings bleakly. It is quiet, brooding and highly atmospheric, the darkest but also the most anthemic song on the album, and the one that stays with the listener the most. It is the perfect closing track for a clever, sophisticated and highly listenable album by a highly skilled, developing artist.