If that’s heartbreak, I want that too: Katie Stelmanis pours her pain into ten club tracks that are as bright and uplifting as Madonna’s RAY OF LIGHT and only reminiscent of Austra’s earlier dark disco-goth design in trace elements. CHIN UP BUTTERCUP is less about escapism and more about coming to terms with a deep injury. “You Said I Needed My Own Friends / I Found Them / You Fucked Them,” Stelmanis texts after the ex-girlfriend, sounding not the least bit bitter, but like someone who has finally found clarity.
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And a new life, and that takes place to a large extent on the dance floor: dance away the heart ache. “Fallen Cloud,” for example, is glorious synthpop with an inviting beat underneath. Stelmani’s voice rises confidently from the echo chamber as the track persistently and irresistibly works its way into the light.
In the title track, theatrical elements merge with a deep pumping Bratz bass, “Think Twice” also plays with over-the-top humor, the musical mood tends towards an Ibiza beach club. The previously released single “Math Equation” (the track with the “fuck” line) impressively creates space for itself, stretches and compresses the groove, the beats bounce on the mirrored walls. CHIN UP BUTTERCUP is a confident farewell and a sparkling new beginning, salt rubbed into wounds with a lot of glitter in it.
This review first appeared in Musikexpress 12/2025.