This is one of those reviews that might set the world on fire and might even see a lot of the industrial and goth elitists frothing at the mouth and cursing my very name for even thinking about bringing an artist like Nessa Barrett onto the site. If the amount of hate industrial pop receives is incredible than I can only imagine even attempting to lump an artist like Nessa Barrett into our site won’t be too well received. Well it’s happening and it’s happening now.

Prior to a couple of weeks ago I never even heard of Nessa Barrett but thanks to the discovery algorithm on Spotify I was pointed in her direction. Anyway, a slim introduction to Barrett finds her discovery being on TikTok where she initially uploaded her musings. A childhood prodigy who sung and wrote and played since childhood she was able to sign a contract with Warner Bros. and then began to release singles and albums. This continued up until 2024 where she released the album that caught my attention “Aftercare”.

“Aftercare” is a synth heavy dark pop album that I thought was going to be cringe from front to back as there are titles such as ‘Passenger Princess’ and ‘S.L.U.T.’ in the tracklist. Most of the time when I see these kinds of titles I find them on garbage nu metal and industrial metal inspired album from artists who lack the production chops and the songwriting to actually pull something out of their ass. Barrett, on the other hand, is a skilled musician with vocals that could put most to shame. And, sure, you can argue that she has a production crew behind her albums thanks to her contract with Warner Bros. but you use what you have. And with an arsenal like that she’s managed to crank out one of the finest dark pop albums I’ve heard in my time.

There’s a definite influence felt on the album that pulls a lot from synthwave as the opening track ‘P*RNSTAR’ has a very similar bassline to that felt in a lot of sythwave / dark synth tracks. Except instead of sounding like riveting buzzsaws streaming across the night sky we get smooth and melancholic electronic lines and Barret’s sensual and somewhat digitally touched voice echoing steamy encounters filled with handcuffs and lots of sweat.

Another one of the songs that kept me coming back to the album is ‘Mustang Baby’. A dirty romance song through and through that’s meant to be nothing but exactly that, the song gives small doses of underlying guitars. I wasn’t a huge fan of Artemas’ appearance on the track as he just sounds like any other John Doe and doesn’t have a unique flavor to his voice but Barrett’s voice and his echo with it does wonders.

‘S.L.U.T.’ could easily be included in an industrial pop playlist, no doubt about it. A little rougher on the electronic element like something that Trent Reznor would come up with in a dream. Fuzzy synth lines and a decent bass line hail this one as one of the best on the album.

There are a bunch of other highlights on the album that I could go over such as the piano-based finale ‘Dirty Little Secret’ and the wobbly electronics found on ‘Glitter and Violence’ and even the smooth motion of ‘Passenger Princess’. But this is an album best experienced on your own.

There’s only one song on the album that earned my ire and that would be ‘Given Enough’. I feel like whatever effects they placed on Barrett’s voice during the chorus obliterated her natural talent and blurred words with one another. During the verse she did her thing and it was incredible but the chorus was ruined. Shame, too, as this is probably the only scuff on an otherwise impeccable album.

In an original thought I wanted to say that Barrett’s performance on “Aftercare” is stunning but I think that would be false to say. I think there are a ton of other musicians who echo desire and lust, hope and despair, domination and submissiveness as she does on “Aftercare” but they fail to deliver both a vocal and instrumental performance worthy of praise in equal parts. Barrett is able to do just that easily wiping out the myriad of other musicians who have come before and after her. It’s not an album that breaks new ground but everything that she does do on the album is done masterfully with an understanding of her craft.