When the World Was at War, We Kept Dancing: Shygirl’s Club Shy Room 2

Shygirl’s latest EP, Club Shy Room 2, had something of an eerie release date in terms of being timed to coincide with one of the Orange Creature’s most grotesque displays yet on television. In an exchange with Volodymyr Zelenskyy that will go down in history (not just in general, but for likely shifting the entire world order), February 28th was a dark day in the political realm. As every day has been since the adult-diaper-wearing führer took office…again. And it was during his first term that Lana Del Rey was compelled to release a song called “When the World Was at War, We Kept Dancing” on her 2017 Lust for Life album. A song that touts the adage, “When the world was at war before/We just kept dancin’.” And, it seems that Shygirl has gotten that message loud and clear. For, just as it was in the 1980s, one of Britain and the United States’ darkest periods (until now) thanks to Thatcherism and Reaganism linking up to form, funnily enough, perhaps nothing as bad as what the Orange Creature is wreaking all on his own, dancing the pain away has never been more important. 

While it always feels much easier to give in to the despair that a fascistic reign naturally invokes, musicians like Shygirl remind people that, yes, it’s still okay to let it all out on the dance floor. To quote another aphorism from a different chanteuse altogether, Madonna, “I know a place where you can get away/It’s called a dance floor.” And Shy accommodates that escape as effectively as ever, opening the EP, fittingly, with “Je M’appelle” (a song that’s very “Peaches-coded” [think: the sound of “Shake Yer Dix”]). As if she really needs to introduce herself at this point—especially after joining Charli XCX on the Sweat Tour and Brat Tour in 2024. Expanding her audience reach in this way, Shygirl’s increasing sense of confidence is manifested in lyrics like, “Call me by my name/Put respect on my check, bitch [or, as Beyoncé said on “Apeshit,” “Put some respek on my check”]/I don’t need the fame/No blue tick or guest list/Five-star Michelin/You can come and get lit/Call me by my name/I’m the motherfucking best, bitch.” And, as such, of course she would speak a bit of French to get the party started, exhibiting an ongoing love affair with the country by also filming the video for “True Religion” on a boat floating through the Seine. 

And why shouldn’t she “Flex” in such a way? Which happens to be the title of track two on the EP, featuring BAMBII. With moody and sweltering backbeats provided by Oscar Scheller, Blue May and Shygirl, the latter gets straight to the point with, “No lie, I’ma holla back if I only had time/Could you handle that?/What you got could be mine/I’m a real one, only ride, never die/Be your main squeeze, no tings on the side.” That last line being a testament to what a Taurus Shygirl is—desiring nothing short of loyalty and stability in a relationship. Unless, of course, she happens to be the one being disloyal and unstable. 

BAMBII then gets her moment to chime in and, yes, flex with such lines as, “I’ma do me and f-f-flex for the night/When I hit the stage, they don’t wanna leave/Everywhere I go, bitches wanna be me.” Saweetie echoes a similar sentiment with her own feature on the next track, “Immaculate.” Among the most standout offerings from Club Shy Room 2 (perhaps as much as “Mr. Useless” was on last year’s Club Shy EP), if this up-tempo rhythm (again co-produced by Oscar Scheller and Blue May) doesn’t get asses on the dance floor then nothing will. Though, again, it goes without saying that, for most people with even half a brain left right now, the notion of dancing might seem absurd during such a bleak time. And yet, there’s a reason that a certain Bertolt Brecht quote keeps coming up lately: “In the dark times/Will there also be singing?/Yes, there will also be singing./About the dark times.” Replace “singing” with “dancing” and that’s the crux of why music like what’s contained on Club Shy Room 2 is more essential than ever. Not, as some might try to say, “disrespectful.” Nor is “Fuck Me” (a.k.a. the “WAP” of 2024) featuring Yseult. 

Slightly different in musical tone compared to what listeners have heard thus far on the EP, this is perhaps because “Fuck Me” is the only song co-produced by Shygirl and Mura Masa (they also collaborated on “Je M’appelle,” but with additional help from Scheller). Frenetic and to-the-point, Shygirl and Yseult accent the notion that, with the world ending and all, there’s little time to beat around the, er, bush. Hence, straightforwardness defined by such lyrics as, “Fuck me, fuck me, fuck me, fuck me/Fuck me, fuck me, good.” And then, of course, there’s the iconic bridge of the song that goes, “Fuck it, fuck it/Fuck it, fuck it/Fuck it, fuck it/Fuck it, fuck it (uh)/Fuck it, fuck it/Fuck it, fuck it/Fuck it, fuck it/Fu-fu-fuck it.” 

As for “Wifey Riddim,” it naturally has a “dreamier” sound than “Fuck Me” (such is the romance still associated with being “wifey”). It’s also among the few songs on Club Shy Room 2 that wasn’t released as a single already before the album came out. Maybe because Shygirl wanted to keep one of the best under wraps until the complete unveiling, revealing more of her Taurean nature as she sings, “You know I’m wifey/I love to get my tings nicely/Look too good but stay bad quietly/Wanna be mine?/That won’t be likely/Call me Brandy, boy is mine/Hold me close more than one time/Two like me you just won’t find/Too wifey, boy, don’t hit my line.” In other words, Shy isn’t open to “receiving” any old fuckboy—not just because she’s already in a committed relationship as “wifey,” but because she would only be willing to open her heart to someone without a wandering eye. Whether a man or woman. Joined by Jorja Smith and SadBoi to ramp up the attitude, it is Smith who goads, “You like me the way I am, don’t need to change a thing/Too busy hustling, but, baby, you can buy the ring/You like me the way I am, you think we’re meant to be/I know you dream of me, but, boy, it’s just a fantasy.” But a sweet one nonetheless.

To conclude the EP, Shygirl keeps the “saucy trio” vibe going with “True Religion” featuring Isabella Lovestory and PinkPantheress. Another danceable ditty that finds Shygirl boasting, “You know you love me like a webcam girl/Webcam, webcam, webcam girl/Pussy too tight, make the mandem purr,” her commitment to making the world dance (on par with FKA Twigs and Eusexua) at a time when it has never felt more “in poor taste” to do so is, in actuality, a noble and defiant act. Yes, an indication of the abovementioned Del Rey adage, “When the world was at war before/We just kept dancin’.” With the addition, “And we’ll do it again/And we’ll do it again” applying to the present moment as much as Britney Spears urging, “Keep on dancin’ till the world ends.”