Yungblud, Strawberry Lipstick
Interscope Records

What do you get if you combine Johnny Rotten with Ginger Spice? Well… Yungblud, of course. With the raw passion of punk music minus the aggression, Strawberry Lipstick is an earnest, breezy celebration of youth. It’s the sound of being unashamedly young – an honest reflection of what it is to be naive, to make mistakes, and see the world through strawberry-tinted glasses.

Strawberry Lipstick, much like all of Yungblud’s previous work, aims to be a mouthpiece for the ‘underrated youth’. Dom encapsulates the anger felt by young people today, chews it up, and spits it back out in a new, more beautiful form. Rather than focusing on the negatives, he instead injects a shot of hope and encouragement – for example, through singing ‘they’re gonna lock me in the closet but I’m coming out’, he eradicates any element of fear, focusing entirely on the end result, the glorious acceptance of the self. ‘Fuck all the oppression and the self doubt’ – there’s no time for it!

The track’s britpop sound only heightens the glorious message of dreamy, youthful acceptance. The sound is light and easy, embodying Dom’s pleas for the world to ‘take it easy, take it easy on me’. The sound washes over you, a soft, nostalgic embodiment of your teenage hopes and dreams. The song reminds you of your own youth – you’re transported back to your first ever love, back before you felt fear, back when anything was possible.

Yungblud has created a beautifully carefree anthem here. Strawberry Lipstick transports you to better times, a welcoming blanket of a song that you can’t help but sink into – not to mention it’s also stupidly fun to sing along to. Dom is yet to let us down!!

Stream Strawberry Lipstick here.