Sunshine Factory＜Smoke Vinyl＞

When Uffie first appeared in the mid-2000s, she worked and played hard, cranking out singles like 2006s viral hit "Pop the Glock" and performing shows and DJ sets that made her the queen of the eras bloghouse scene. By the time Anna-Catherine Hartley released her 2010 debut album, Sex Dreams and Denim Jeans, however, the frantic pace had caught up with her; by 2013, shed left music behind in favor of raising her family and studying biochemistry. When she returned in 2017, she worked and played smarter. A charting collaboration with Galantis, work with Charli XCX -- who, along with Kesha, SOPHIE, Doja Cat, and others, continued Uffies legacy of unapologetically outspoken and playful pop -- and writing songs for clients like P!nk revealed new dimensions to her talents reinforced by her own releases. The weary, wary bedroom pop of 2019s Tokyo Love Hotel EP reflected how much she knows about post-party lows, and while second album Sunshine Factory is more in keeping with the spirit of her early releases, its sound reaffirms that Uffie isnt stuck in the past. Since shes lived several lifetimes since the "Pop the Glock," days, its not surprising that her style has changed. Occasionally, she updates her pouty, audacious persona, as on the spiky dance-punk of "Where Does the Party Go?" and the four-on-the-floor-driven "Sophia," but theyre tempered with cloudy synth reveries and singsong vocals that somehow sound younger than the haughty cool-girl delivery of her first go-round. More often, though, Sunshine Factory reveals Uffie as a true believer in fizzy, capital-P pop. The heavy synths and euphoric choruses of "Prickling Skin" and "Giants strengthen the connection between her work and XCXs, but theres also the ska bounce of "Dominoes," which sounds like soft-focus No Doubt, and "Anna Jetson," a whimsical piece of hyperpop that imagines Uffie as an astronaut. A few shadows creep into Sunshine Factory, most strikingly on "A Month of Mondays," where NNAMDIs moody verses add emotional grounding and the insistent hooks reflect Uffies chops as a pro songwriter. Best of all is "Cool," one of several songs co-produced by Toro y Mois Chaz Bear. A percolating acceptance of melancholy and moving on from it, it finds Uffie with "nothin left to prove." Shes a survivor, and Sunshine Factorys lighthearted yet resilient pop offers a more sustainable -- but just as enjoyable -- incarnation of her music. ~ Heather Phares