Underscores U Album Review – A New Direction or Controlled Chaos?
Hi everyone, it’s Anthony Stirford here from Anthony XO.Music, and today I’m reviewing U, the new album from Underscores.
Over the past few years, Underscores has built a name in one of the most chaotic corners of modern music. Her sound sits somewhere between hyperpop, glitchy electronic production, and internet culture overload. It’s messy on purpose. Loud, unpredictable, and constantly pulling from everywhere at once without really asking for permission.
She didn’t come up through a traditional path either. Like a lot of artists in that space, her career started online, dropping tracks, experimenting with sounds, and slowly building an audience that actually connected with that unpredictability. There’s a DIY energy to her work that still sticks, even as the production has gotten bigger and more detailed over time.
What’s interesting is how that chaos has evolved. Early on, it felt more scattered, almost like she was throwing ideas at the wall just to see what stayed. But over time, something shifted toward something more controlled, without losing that wild edge. She’s still unpredictable, but now it feels deliberate.
That’s where U comes in. This isn’t just another experimental drop. It feels like a moment where all those ideas either finally come together or completely fall apart.
Before getting into U, it’s worth looking at how Underscores actually got here, because her growth hasn’t been typical at all.
With fishmonger, it honestly felt like a random girl just showed up in the music industry with a completely unique style. And I mean that in the best way. For someone from Gen Z, that’s genuinely unusual. Most artists in that lane blow up off a couple of internet hits and then spend the next two years trying to hold onto that. She didn’t do that. She took a more grounded route, building an identity from the ground up, even when the sound itself was pure chaos.
That album is all over the place sonically, but that’s the whole point. She’s blending hyperpop, indie rock, electro pop, even acoustic moments, and somehow making it feel like one world. One track feels loud and unhinged, the next one soft and almost emotional, then suddenly it flips raw and aggressive. That constant mood shift is what makes fishmonger work for me. It’s not polished, but it’s deeply intentional in how it introduces who she is.
Then you get to boneyard aka fearmonger, and honestly there’s nothing that special here. It keeps that same chaotic energy but leans harder into electro pop and synth pop textures. The problem is it doesn’t really push anything forward. It feels more like an extension of fishmonger than an actual next step. Not bad, but not great either. It just exists in that middle space without really adding anything new to her identity.
But then Wallsocket happens, and that’s where everything clicks.
That’s where she really starts building her own sonic world instead of just experimenting inside one. She’s not chasing Gen Z trends, she’s building something that feels completely separate from them. That’s what stands out the most. There’s real ambition here, similar to artists like Hemlocke Springs, where the goal isn’t just to make songs, it’s to build a whole identity around them.
And sonically, it delivers. It’s still a mix of hyperpop, electronic, rock, and acoustic elements, but now it feels controlled. The chaos is still there, but it’s focused. The ideas feel more developed, more intentional. Instead of just throwing sounds together, she’s actually shaping them into something that sticks.
For me, this is easily her career peak so far.
With U, Underscores pulls back a little from that fully chaotic, distortive identity and leans more into melody. The grit is still there, it hasn’t gone anywhere, but the indie rock textures that used to define a lot of her sound are mostly stripped out. Instead, she’s pushing deeper into electronic territory, and honestly, it works. The album is packed with distortive electro-pop bangers that still carry that hyperpop core, just in a more controlled and focused way.
What I like here is that she’s not abandoning her identity just to switch things up. She’s evolving it. You can hear that she’s actively trying to reshape her palette instead of chasing trends or viral moments. That’s genuinely rare right now. Most artists are optimizing for one big TikTok hit, but she’s clearly aiming for something more long-term, something more her. That kind of ambition actually shows throughout the whole album.
Production is doing a lot of heavy lifting here, and it’s honestly one of the strongest parts of the project. The drums hit hard, the bass is aggressive, and the percussion feels chaotic in a very intentional way. It’s loud, it’s messy, but it never feels careless. This might genuinely be some of the best production I’ve heard in recent releases, up there with artists like Hemlocke Springs and Mandy, Indiana. Compared to Wallsocket, the sonic palette is clearly different. The indie rock influence is almost completely stripped away, replaced with sharper, more precise electronic textures. The songwriting isn’t trying to be complex or overly deep either. It just fits the energy she’s going for, and honestly, that’s enough.
The album opens with “Tell Me (U Want It),” and yeah… this one threw me off. It’s minimal, kind of sleepy, and honestly feels more like something BTS would put out rather than her. That chaotic energy she’s known for is barely present. For an album that eventually hits this hard, opening with this feels like a weird creative decision. It’s not a bad track, but as an intro, it just doesn’t land the way it should.
Then “MUSIC” comes in and completely flips the energy. This is where the album actually starts. It’s gritty, distorted, and fully electronic. I don’t know what it is, but she really sounds like Blackpink here, specifically Lisa. The first half sticks to her chaotic hyperpop style, just without those rock textures, but the second half is where it really goes off. The beat switches, the electronic cuts get sharper, everything feels more explosive. That transition alone carries the whole track. It feels like two completely different ideas colliding in the same song, and somehow it works.
“Hollywood Forever” is a weird one for me. Not bad at all. Actually, I like it a lot. But it doesn’t belong here. It sounds like it came straight out of Charli XCX’s brat era. Fully electronic, very clean, very stylized. It drops most of that chaotic hyperpop identity and just leans into sleek electro-pop. As a standalone track, it’s genuinely one of my favorites on the project. Inside this album though, it feels disconnected. Like it wandered into the wrong project entirely.
“Innuendo (I Get U)” brings things back into focus. The drums are punchy, the bass is deep, synths are shimmering all over the mix. It sits right in that space between hyperpop, dance pop, and electronic. The performance matches the production pretty well, and the lyrics have that messy, chaotic energy she’s genuinely good at. It reminds me of that brat-style writing again, just not as sharp. Still, it works because the energy is there and it stays consistent throughout.
“Lovefield” honestly fooled me. The first half had me thinking this was going to be one of the weaker tracks. Slow, almost lifeless, a very soft electronic build. Then the second half hits and everything switches completely. The energy comes out of nowhere. It turns into something way more engaging, almost like a delayed drop that finally pays off after making you wait for it. That contrast is what saves the track entirely. It goes from “this might be boring” to “okay, this actually hits.” That’s a smart structure.
“Do It” is on another level. This is easily one of the strongest tracks on the project. Her tone again leans into that Blackpink vibe, but she still keeps it fully her own. The hook is punchy, direct, and actually fun to listen to. It’s the kind of track you can replay without getting tired of it. Lyrically, she’s talking about her own impact, which gives it a bit more personality and confidence. The production is wild. Chaotic but melodic at the same time, and those acoustic guitar touches in the mix add this weird contrast that somehow just works. Yeah, this is my favorite track here, no question.
“Bodyfeeling” and “Wish U Well” slow things down, but they don’t kill the momentum. They’re not chaotic bangers, they’re more controlled, more melodic, even a bit nostalgic with that 80s-style production running through them. The interesting part is that even when she slows down, the grit doesn’t fully disappear. It’s still there in the textures, just less aggressive. These tracks feel like a cooldown, but not in a boring way. They actually give the album some real breathing space.
At the end of it, U feels like a clear step forward. Not a repeat of Wallsocket, not a safe move either. She’s more melodic now, more controlled, but still rooted in that chaotic identity. Cutting off the indie rock influence could’ve made the album feel hollow, but instead it makes it more focused and honestly more memorable. There are no real filler tracks here. Even “Hollywood Forever,” which feels out of place, is still a genuinely good song on its own terms.
This isn’t her most chaotic project, and it’s not trying to be. It’s tighter, more electronic, more intentional. And yeah, for me, this is another sonic win from Underscores.
Rating: 8/10 (It’s a “Serious Statement” to me)
Listen On Spotify:
If you liked this review, you can check out my other reviews:
- BTS: Arirang (Album Review): 14 Dark Moments From Their Bold Comeback –
- Bruno Mars- The Romantic (Album Review) –
- Jack Harlow: Monica (Album Review): 9 Surprising Moments From His Bold R&B Pivot –