REVIEW | Dirty Blonde – “Rage (Makes Me Feel Pretty)”: A Fierce Anthem of Emotion and Empowerment
- Kathrin Waschke
- Oct 30
- 2 min read
Manchester based power duo Dirty Blonde had one of the most intense years yet. Having released their second EP ‘Looking For Trouble’, playing multiple festivals throughout the UK, performing at the Formula 1 Grand Prix and the Sky Arts Awards, releasing their song ‘Feeling Good’ and playing at the Away From Home Festival in New York. On October 29th they continued to rock and dropped their latest release ‘Rage (Makes Me Feel Pretty)’. A song that, according to the band‘s Instagram, was „actually inspired by a t-shirt that Hayley Williams wore“.
Whereas the music video starts with eerie sounds that might as well have been from a thriller movie, the song on streaming platforms begins with soft guitar tunes and vocals before building up its momentum. Followed by an overall energetic and guitar-heavy sound ‘Rage (Makes Me Feel Pretty)’ manages to combine vocals that are equally as capturing in their depth as their highs. Right before the last third of the song lead vocalist Ailís Mackay smooths all the rage that has built up before a thunder of drums and guitars lets this rage and anger explode again. The chorus “My rage makes me feel pretty” might be an easy to remember lyric that is instantly stuck in one’s mind while the rest of the song is filled with lines that cut a little deeper. “You go out with your friends and I guess that I don’t mind. Yeah I’ve always been the one to smile and say that it’s fine. After all that’s been said it’s the end of our time” for example shows that there‘s a backstory to the anger, a certain mix of hurt and longing. Emotions that are relatable to many and that musicians and lyricists Ailís Mackay and Hayley Tait seem to have embodied perfectly in this track.
The music video, which was filmed and edited by Juan A. García and produced, mixed and mastered by Larry Hibbitt, lets the viewer immerse themselves in visuals that are simple but never bland or boring. Painting a picture in which the band as a whole fills the lavender canvas with back clothes, simplicity as well as mad facial expressions and gestures to underline the song‘s message.
Dirty Blonde is truly a band that seem to have just started a few years ago, but already found their sound and audience. With a band this vocally and musically talented the future has only just begun for them.
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Words by Kathrin Waschke