When Biig Piig’s bilingual, laidback lo-fi groover ‘Perdida’ arrived back in 2018 it was plain to see that the young Irish artist was a special talent with an unusual world view. Big Fan of The Sesh Vol.1 became an underground staple, its hopeful post-party comedown stylings perfectly capturing those wistful hours when possibilities aren’t weighed down by reality and there are no tariffs on clarity.
A World Without Snooze and No Place For Patience completed the triptych of bedsit fantasies with ‘Roses and Gold’ and ‘Sunny’ indicating that a funkier, more sophisticated version of Biig Piig was just around the corner.
2020 saw Biig Piig deliver the best run of singles by any Irish artist that year, with ‘Switch’, ‘Don’t Turn Around’ and ‘Feels Right’ proving that Jessica Smyth aka Biig Piig was a bona fide contemporary popstar. Collaborations with the likes of Metronomy, Matt Maltese, Deb Never, Kojaque, and long-time mentors/collaborators Lava La Rue and Mac Wetha followed with Biig Piig delving further into dance pop, whilst tethering herself to her earlier output.
11:11 arrives with Biig Piig having appeared on well over fifty tracks in the eight years since the release of her debut single. It’s safe to say she’s kept us waiting, but she’s also kept us intrigued by the constant sonic shifts in her output. The album sees her melding the best of her early artistic inclinations, pairing her nouse for taking a midnight ramble through the medicated hopes and dreams of her generation with the lessons learnt during her extended stint in pop finishing school. The result is a late-night pop missile of floor-fillers for deep thinkers and tranquil, glitter clad moments of reflection, perfect for the after afters.
The bubbly ‘Favourite Girl’ and ‘Ponytail’ are reminiscent of Kylie in her ‘00s ‘Fever’ pomp; jittery synth earworms like ‘9 to 5’ replete with Jamiraquai-esque bassline flow effortlessly while ‘Stay Home’ and ‘Brighter Day’ feel like Big Fan of The Sesh’s well healed big sisters have landed back in the gaff with better booze and better drugs.
Opener ‘4AM’ harks back to the bass guitar driven riffs that permeated the glorious 2020 run of singles, while ‘Decimal’ delivers the final touchstone that has defined Biig Piig’s career to date, her free-flowing use of Spanish – the language she dreams in – to make it easier to say everything she wants to say. If there really is an angel guiding Biig Piig (as the album title suggests) it is a fresh, funky and mischievous one.