ALBUM REVIEW: U.S. Girls – Bless This Mess 

4AD

Released: 24.02.23

U.S. Girls have taken some unusual digressions since 2018’s In A Poem Unlimited – so far Meghan Remy’s defining artistic statement. Bless This Mess draws from similar aesthetic landscapes but doesn’t quite soar in the way that previous records have. Opener Only Daedalus bears all of the hallmarks of what makes U.S. Girls great, but is scuppered by some dated, cheap sounding production decisions.

Ultimately, Bless This Mess works best at its most introspective and plaintive: the title track being a perfect example of Remy’s more melancholy composition. Fittingly, Bless This Mess feels transitionary, an eclectic hodgepodge with plenty of ideas fizzing around, but ultimately it’s one of the least coherent releases in Remy’s canon.