Your Best Nightmare – Presents: A Simple Solution for Toxic Masculinity
Release Date: 21st March 2024
Soloing under the guise of Your Best Nightmare, Erin Porter released her debut album Presents: A Simple Solution for Toxic Masculinity, a personal and largely unrefined look at a world that is far from what she had imagined it would be. The album title alone is a ripe patch ready for picking.
Witty lyricism is the main ingredient throughout this eleven-track release and they are almost immediately unleashed on the listener on album opener ‘Promising Young Woman’. As tongue in cheek as they are self-reflective, there’s a level of maturity and understanding of the world around Porter that lunges out of each line. Never more so than during the chorus of the second track where it is declared that Porter would ‘rather die as Joan of Arc’ in reference to many of the atrocities committed against women throughout history.
Elsewhere on the album there are much clearer messages, mostly directed at abusive men. The meaning of track three’s title, ‘Don’t Mess With Me’ is given a boost with one simple added word, becoming a threat as much as a warning: “don’t fucking mess with me”. Next, ‘Vampire Lover’ follows, bringing some of the dramatic photography that accompanies the album to life further. Probably the catchiest track on the album and one that will have you repeating the chorus long after you’ve stopped listening. A proper unrelenting little earworm.
Presents… by this point has settled into a bit of a routine. Not a boring one, more like that classic ‘perfect Sunday’ type of routine where you can just enjoy each element as it comes along. Whether it be the increased rawness that ‘Target Acquired’ brings or the more childlike intro of ‘Really Cute’, each proceeding section feels like it belongs as part of this carefully constructed piece of work. Though the latter’s childlike demeanor as a track is utterly undermined by the darkness of the lyrics. This is most likely the highlight of a really strong album, the juxtaposition in the songwriting alone makes it a standout. Staggering, bloody-nosed towards the conclusion of the album, everything doubles down. The passion pours out as lyrics are spitefully spat on ‘Eyeliner’, all the while maintaining that almost lighthearted, dismissive tone.
After a couple of releases in the past year, Your Best Nightmare has released an album that combines a wonderful dose of humour with some lessons born from the experiences of Erin Porter’s life. Whilst musically it is easy listening, there’s plenty of depth here as humour combines with maturity.