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Pearly Drops embody an eclectic, artfully niche sector of the Finnish underground scene, with a sound that translates globally. A duo, helmed by Sandra Tervonen and Juuso Malin have collaborated with artists including Vitesse X, have gifted their listeners a new project, The Voices Are Coming Back. This album serves as a poignant sequel to their 2023 release A Little Disaster. It’s a surreal and emotionally charged work of autofiction, offering a glamourous yet unflinching look at the pitfalls in the “land of opportunity”, with a dreamy, chaotic Los Angeles as its backdrop.
“Ratgirl” stands as the heart of the project. As the album’s second track, its lyrics, and a shimmering eerie crescendo of synth and distorted vocals, lay bare a striking visual metaphor: crawling through the walls like a rat. This image is delivered with a captivating, mystical authenticity polished with flair that is distinctly Lynchian, and a messy pop that invites the listener to revisit its dynamic sound. On “Ratgirl”, Pearly Drops shares: “With a full-on fantasy imagery and certain abruptness — ‘Ratgirl’ is like the weirdest scene in a David Lynch movie. Within this hallucination, becoming a rat crawling through the walls of a luxury Airbnb in Silver Lake feels less like a metaphor and more like a calling. In the realm of the real world, 'Ratgirl' may be our first work that leans more towards dance music, fragmentarily attempting to recall the New Rave and Electroclash of the early millennium. As always, Pearly Drops’ Indie Disco most likely feels more tailor-made for the record bag of an imaginary DJ. Think of a foggy, empty and dirty club with a strobe light tearing through the dark—kind of eerie, kind of intense. That’s the feeling we wanted to bring into the music video.”
Pearly Drops - Ratgirl (Official Music Video)
The Voices Are Coming Back strikes a balance between the relatable and otherworldly. The album delves into the core uncertainty that accompanies reinvention - the desire to change yourself in a new setting, and the fallacy of losing one’s identity in the process. Structured like a storybook, the narrative is rich with introspection, offering an odyssey through burnout and ambition in a world always in flux.
Artfully selective with voice memos in “Shallow”, “Demonlover” and “Cocoon & Tatiana’s Lament”, Tervonen and Malin brashly capture themes of anguish and loneliness that lay beneath the surface, with a transparency that is the hero’s fall before the rise. This narrative is balanced out with another highlight of the project, “End Credits” Instead of a simple intermission, the track feels like a complete reset. It’s grounded by a pulsating rhythm that pays clear homage to new-wave and dance-hall influences.
As the album draws to a close, in “Silver Lake Mystery Forest”, Pearly Drops are emotionally raw. The final track’s charged lyrics, “Only believe in / My digital feelings/Still reaching for the / Undo in the void” beg for connection and catharsis. On the final track, and album as a whole, “It feels like with this third album, we bottled up that feeling of losing your mind and your identity when trying to chase your dreams — whatever they happen to be,” Tervonen and Malin reflect. The Voices Are Coming Back is an authentic take on burnout and escapism, delivered with a glamorously messy flair.
With tour dates lined up across Europe and North America, Pearly Drops is ready to offer a global audience an exciting refresh of the indie electronic genre.
Stream The Voices Are Coming Back below: