Daine – ‘In Endless Awe & Agony’ review: a modern emo gothic painted in sugary pop pastels

Confessing the neuroses of stardom, Daine cashes in on today’s most lucrative pop culture currency: bearing all. The 23-year-old Filipino-Australian artist’s debut album ‘In Endless Awe & Agony’ has a clear thesis statement: “I’m not really a person”, they wail on jangly screamo cut ‘P.O.P’, “I’m a product of profit”. Wielding irony like current contemporary heavyweights (pop stars breaking the fourth wall, namely Tinashe, Underscores and Charli XCX), Australia’s “next proper breakout star” vocalises affected indifference, taking wry aim at a parasocial, voyeuristic audience over preppy indie-rock-pop amalgamates. READ MORE: On The Cover: Daine is stepping into self-aware popstardom: “It’s embarrassing in a delicious way” Following a six-year stint “flopping” across a string of EPs spanning digitally ethereal trap-pop (à la Ericdoa, a once-collaborator) and celestial hyperpop, ‘In Endless Awe & Agony’ reintroduces a grounded Daine sans-autotune, fresh out the simulation, as a raw and unreserved prodigy of emo pop. Narratively, Daine portrays the debut as a Jungian individuation arc, a merging with the shadow self in search of healing. Bubblegummy career highlight ‘PQC’ sees...