Nat Cmiel produces ethereal cyber pop that reflects a lifetime spent online, where everyone has the freedom to construct multiple identities and switch between them at will.
Cmiel began releasing electropop EPs as
yeule in 2014 and made their full-length debut in 2019 with
Serotonin II, a pillowy album of ambient dream pop that contained a few glitchy, beat-driven highlights such as "Pixel Affection" and "Pretty Bones." Second album
Glitch Princess is more futuristic than
yeule's past work and perhaps more dystopian as well. Opening track "My Name Is Nat Cmiel" is a spoken word piece in which the artist introduces themself in a stiff, robotic voice, stating their interests and expressing a desire to leave their body: "I like to eat but I don't like it when it lingers on my body, I like to take up as little space as possible." "Flowers Are Dead" similarly focuses on transcending one's physical form, and its soaring chorus combines stuttering drums with shoegaze-y distortion. Tracks such as the darkwave ballad "Perfect Blue" and the sparse, guitar-driven emo tune "Don't Be So Hard on Your Own Beauty" further deal with perceptions of one's physical appearance. The jagged, uneasy "Friendly Machine" is another brutal examination of
Cmiel's mental health ("I like to think I'm doing just fine, I like to search my symptoms online") set to a thick swarm of serrated bleeps and trudging beats. The album's highlight is "Too Dead Inside," a dancehall-influenced collaboration with
PC Music's
Danny L. Harle in which
Cmiel pleads, "Take me somewhere pretty, pretty enough to fill this empty," later coming to the realization that "It's not so hollow." Closing track "Mandy" recalls the spirit of early
Crystal Castles with its noisy, bitcrushed beats and harsh screams, yet there's also a tender heart beating inside. ~ Paul Simpson
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