Underscores has a very gen-Z disregard for genre boundaries: her experimental sound fuses dubstep, left-field electronica, rock and much more. Born in San Francisco in 2000, April Harper Grey was influenced by artists such as Skrillex, and started putting music on SoundCloud aged 13. She released her first single two years later: Mild Season, an accomplished instrumental with broken beats and low drops, pulled together with a steady two-step rhythm.
Next she started layering vocals over her music, producing mesmerising, multifaceted soundscapes. Her 2021 debut album, Fishmonger, expanded into more affecting, personal territory and attracted the attention of famous fans such as Blink-182’s Travis Barker. Later that year, Grey toured with hyperpop duo 100 Gecs; her first headline tour followed in 2022.
Second album Wallsocket, released last month, depicts a fictional Michigan town. It’s a vision, she says, of “upper-middle-class suburban America with Scandinavian architecture. It’s about how things get corporatised.” Old Money Bitch mixes synth-driven sonics with sharp lyrics (“I know you went to that school in, like, DC/ The one the president’s kids go to/ So, like, how’d you end up here?”), while the punk-inflected Cops and Robbers tells the story of a bank teller on the run. Grey enjoys creating an immersive experience in her work. “I have an idyllic world in my mind,” she says, “with architecture and fonts and styles. I’m trying to build that through my music.”
Wallsocket is out now on Mom+Pop Music. Underscores tours the UK, 30 November-4 December
