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Beware of her vicious bite as WILLOW evolves into the most honest set of skin she’s ever existed in on <COPINGMECHANISM>.

While this may be her fifth album, in many ways it’s an introduction to who she’s truly been all along. Like a bone from her ribcage, WILLOW offers the rawest pieces of herself in <COPINGMECHANISM>. Moody and avant-garde, her take on the revival of angsty emo-rock seems like second nature to her, as easy as breathing itself.

While many cower at the thought of vulnerability, it seems like the one thing she’s been craving all along: self-liberation through pure and radical honesty. There’s a sense of surrender in WILLOW’s aura, as if embracing her darkness is how she’s finally found the light.

From “ur a <stranger>” to “No Control,” there aren’t any sanded-down edges in <COPINGMECHANISM>. Her confidence doesn’t falter as she spills out her queerness and self-inflicted despair, beating you to the punch by telling on herself first. 

The title track is its own fleshy wound, exploring self-medication and loving someone as much as you hate yourself. Aside from a powerfully dynamic feature from Yves Tumor, this album is an intimate look into WILLOW’s innermost world, seasoned with soft harmonies and grunge alt-rock. But above all else, this project is medicinally potent. WILLOW saved herself through <COPINGMECHANISM>, becoming a lighthouse for those surviving the darkness of their own subconscious.

It’s almost foolish to praise someone who is fully aware of the fact that they’re in their own lane entirely. Hot off the heels of lighting herself ablaze on the Saturday Night Live stage this Saturday, we’re getting to witness a critical graduation in WILLOW’s shape-shifting career from wanderer to rockstar.

Listen to <COPINGMECHANISM> below: