7/10

Some debuts whisper, others explode. Cillë’s first EP ', but you can call me silly!' does the latter with a grin that’s half-mischief, half-defiance. The Danish-born, New York-based songwriter is here to showcase her world where neon-drenched synths collide with crunching guitars, and where “odd ball-empowerment” becomes a rallying cry.

Across the four-track offering, she leans into playful absurdity without losing the sting of sincerity. 'Neon Trooper' and 'Champagne Punk' sound like they were written for a retro arcade where every machine runs on glitter and feedback. They’re bratty, fun, and loud in a way that delivers escapism sharpened into its own kind of protest. But then 'All the Haters Are Dead' flips the script, imagining a post-apocalyptic solitude that’s equal parts relief and grief. It’s this ability to twist her humour into haunting shapes that makes Cillë compelling.

'Reckless Hearts' brings the most raw moment, a fatalistic anthem about love’s inevitable crash, with her voice rising above the guitars like it’s daring gravity to prove her right. Yet what ties all these moods together is the sense of theatricality as she embraces the “silly” title while weaponising it, turning self-deprecation into a badge of honour.

Produced by Benjamin Hull with collaborators Kelsey Warren (Blak Emoji) and Joseph Freeman, the EP is polished but not over-sanitised, leaving just enough grit on the edges to keep the chaos intact.

Cillë calls them her “fun songs for the end of the world,” but there’s more here than surface-level sparkle. Beneath the tongue-in-cheek humour is a songwriter reckoning with alienation, survival, and the thrill of not belonging.And ', but you can call me silly!' crashes through the noise with personality to spare.