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Sprawler Fu
Fēn Shēn
Fēn Shēn means “to divide the body” or “to have a duplicate of one’s self” - a characteristically artistic way for Sprawler Fu to present her debut full-length album.
In that spirit, the opening track “Doppelganger” sets the stage for ten tracks of personal revelation and exploration, on an album that Sprawler describes as “the album I always wanted to make”.
“I saw my doppelganger once in the restroom of Sinclair’s - if we’d have been twins, I’d have been the ugly one, though she was the spit of me, I swear"
It won’t take more than half of this first track for most listeners to recognize that what they’ve found is something truly special. If you listen to the arrangement behind the positively bewitching vocal performance, you’ll notice that it’s actually pretty sparse if you remove the massive amount of work being done by layer upon layer of Sprawler’s own backing vocals. This is confident, careful work that hits like a wrecking ball.
Between the visuals and the exceptional musical elements, it’s easy to lose sight of what a masterful lyricist Sprawler is. From the first moments, this album is packed with wicked, witty, delightful lines that elevate her melodies and fill out the vision of who Sprawler Fu is as an artist. “Wipe your nose, finger licking, shall I order chips or chicken?” The lack of pretentiousness and the self-assurance is endearing.
The record only gathers speed after the starting block. The second track “Overflow” was previously reviewed on this site, and is the first song that made us really sit up and take notice. The chorus is absolutely masterful - calling to mind that brief shining moment in pop music when it seemed like there was space for someone who wasn’t just aesthetically, but also musically, outside of the typical box.
The first time I heard this song I remember immediately being transported back to 1997 and hearing “Mummer’s Dance” by Loreena McKinnitt on the radio. That initial reaction of “how did this get through the gatekeepers?” followed quickly by unrestrained glee that it had. Nowadays, you can be a huge star with a wild, transgressive visual style, but there’s little pop music being pushed forward that’s this thoughtful and this focused on speaking to something deeper than your desire to sweat it out in the clubs.
The track worms its way under your skin, from the droning “this life is full to the brim” refrain, through the deliciously sultry groove on the verse, and finally blooming into a deeply relatable chorus that expertly captures the feeling of overwhelm that so many of us deal with on a daily basis.
“Hey god, I might have a nice suggestion - are all-inclusives completely out the question?”
Another of those lines that reveals so much personality and familiarity, unique but accessible - much like the entirety of this album.
“Take a deep breath, gotta scream, yeah, fighting forces coming at me, head high so that I can float…”
The hook is so good that the arrangement almost slips by unnoticed - but the rhythmic variations, the gorgeous interplay of see-sawing strings, punctuated by chimes and more carefully developed backing vocals, is genuinely among the most expert-level production you’ll hear these days.
In the interest of not writing a 40,000-word essay, we’ll try to skim through the rest of the album and hit the absolute highlights. But don’t make the mistake of thinking that there’s any part of this album that won’t reward careful listening.
“Where the Light Falls” slows things down and lets Sprawler Fu stretch her soundscape-building skills unhurried. Another of those signature lyrics that you’d never get from any other artist - “there’s a hole in the sleeve of my leather” will stick with you.
“Ornithology” is probably the track that has grown on us the most. The groove on this song is absolutely killer - more so due to the vocal melody and performance than the music - and the chorus is one of the coolest, sexiest hooks we’ve heard in a long time.
“I Want It All” and “When the Ice Breaks” would’ve made good B-sides for “Just Do It” - the infectious throwback club-pop single that didn’t appear on this album. They share the same wry lyrical approach, rap-adjacent vocal deliveries, and serve the same expository function. In the middle of this record, they’re an effective palate cleanser before we dive back into deeper waters.
“Devil’s Drop” is a clinic in how to create a song that’s hyper-personal (there are references to Hawkley wood and a rite of passage that won’t really mean anything to 99% of listeners) but still compelling, memorable, and translate-able to the lived experience of most people. “Everybody that was any good did the drop down Hawkley wood and I lied and I lied and I lied that I could” - made me think about the old rope swing that kids in my hometown used to use to fling themselves off a cliff and into the river, and the time one of our friends got too scared to let go over the water, and instead swung back and slammed into the gnarled roots that ran down the length of the drop. It’s also just a nasty groove.
Sprawler Fu cites Björk, Kate Bush and Imogen Heap as influences. In “Devil’s Drop” there are moments where it sounds like something Lady Gaga might have tried to slip past the label - but I suspect that’s mostly a function of the inspiration and liberation that she found in the aforementioned influences to indulge and even lean into her quirkier impulses.
“Underwater” - apart from being a beautiful piece of production that uses its soundscape to anchor us in the scene being described - recounts a traumatic experience through the internal monologue of the narrator. Every time this song plays, I can’t help but imagine how much time, how many re-visits, how much trial and error must have gone into perfecting this arrangement. It’s stunning work.
“Shadow” is the track that - if this record gets heard as widely as it deserves to be - will become the favorite song of some significant percentage of listeners, the track that becomes a cornerstone of their development, identity, personality, and worldview. “If I was invisible, I’d be hard for the shadows to find” intones Sprawler in yet another song whose arrangement and melody belie a level of skill that should make her, if nothing else, a sought-after producer in anything remotely in this genre neighborhood.
“Bitter Sweet” feels a bit like an “acknowledgements” to a certain muse; it’s a soft, ethereal coda to a masterpiece of an album. And indeed, reaching the end of this record is a bittersweet experience - sweet because it’s exhilarating to witness such a triumph by a true artist, a true independent, a true original. Bitter because Sprawler Fu still being on the first rungs of the career ladder with this level of talent and skill is a blazing indictment of the industry and culture.
Nonetheless, we expect tremendous things ahead for Sprawler Fu. This album merits your consideration, your money, your word of mouth. Let’s put her on the map.
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