Chrissi – ‘I Hate You Don’t Leave Me !’ review: a layered look at love, loss and self-doubt

For the heartbroken and despondent, Chrissi’s early music has been undeniably alluring. From the visceral lyricism of her debut 2021 EP ‘Back In The Day’ to her breakout 2023 hit ‘Love Me In Chapters’, it’s clear that the Essex-born singer-songwriter has a knack for distilling sadness into arresting music. That’s but one side of the NME 100 artist, who now imbues her experiences of love, loss and self-doubt with joy, humour and tenderness on her sublime debut album ‘I Hate You Don’t Leave Me !’. READ MORE: For Troye Sivan, the dancefloor is a healing space Upbeat opener ‘Pucker Up !’, one of the catchiest songs on the album, sets up the sonics for the rest of the record, which largely draws from Motown-era hits by the likes of The Supremes mixed with 2000s hip-hop influences and the rawness of her earlier work. But the song itself is a tonal outlier, a genuinely giddy love song that was written and recorded before the singer discovered that her now-ex-boyfriend was “a fucking weirdo with a partner and a child” – the fallout of which she faces head on elsewhere through biting and humorous lyricism. Chrissi confronts the reality of her situation on the toe-tapping ‘Hard Launch !’, wh...