Fancy That? Steven Says 4.5/5

With Fancy That, PinkPantheress isn’t just leaning into nostalgia, she’s weaponizing it. At barely 20 minutes, this album is tight, punchy, and honestly the first full project of hers I’ve genuinely loved from top to bottom.

It’s a rush of drum & bass, dance pop, and electropop, packed with Samsung Intensity flip-phone-era vibes, glittery Limited Too lip gloss nostalgia, and LimeWire-core energy (rip), but never in a way that feels forced or gimmicky. PinkPantheress isn’t attaching herself to a trend—she’s carefully curating a Y2K moodboard and turning it into sonic gold.

Case in point: “Tonight.” Those little “like what” and “come on” ad libs scratch a very specific itch deep inside my brain, it’s the kind of detail you didn’t even realize you were craving until you heard it. Her vocals float effortlessly over glitchy, hyper-polished beats, feeling like the musical equivalent of an expertly edited TikTok velocity edit: chaotic but perfectly controlled (iykyk).

While Fancy That breezes by, it’s anything but careless. Every beat and lyric choice is intentional. Plus, her UK roots are woven authentically throughout, it’s not just thrown in for the sake of it. There’s a clear pride in her musical identity, executed with a meticulousness that’s rare as hell in pop music today.

Sampling isn’t new, but the way PinkPantheress does it feels fresh, thoughtful, and genius. Some people act like using samples is lazy or easy, but if you’ve ever tried to flip a sound and make it feel genuinely original, you know it’s not simple. She picks, tweaks, and transforms with the precision of a producer who’s done this for decades.

PinkPantheress might live in 2005 permanently, but after listening to Fancy That, I’m ready to hop in a time machine and join her.

Curious about what else Steven is into? Get updates on shelf.im/stevenmorea