Faith Nico returns with the first Cruel Sister song since 2023.
Cruel Sister has released ‘XOXO’, the Dubliner’s first song since 2023’s Turgid EP which featured ‘Lenny’ and more.
‘XOXO’ is a fuzzy rock track, written and produced by the artist, drawing on ’90s grunge and shoegaze (the genre is so zeitgeisty right now) and mentions early PJ Harvey, My Bloody Valentine, and Sonic Youth as influences.
“‘XOXO’ explores the pressures female musicians face to conform to unrealistic beauty and behaviour standards. The song embodies frustration with societal expectations, touching on self-doubt, insecurity, and the industry’s shallow biases, while critiquing how women in music are judged more harshly than men.”
Cruel Sister plays Eurosonic in the Netherlands this week.
Cruel Sister:
Niall Byrne is the founder of the most-influential Irish music site Nialler9, where he has been writing about music since 2005. He is the co-host of the Nialler9 Podcast and has written for the Irish Times, Irish Independent, Sunday Times, Totally Dublin, Cara Magazine, Red Bull and more. Niall is a DJ, co-founder of Lumo Club, event curator, Indie Sleaze club promoter, and producer of gigs and monthly listening parties & events in Dublin.
