I normally wouldn’t write a review for just one single, but I got Rachel Gagliardi’s name and the title of Pouty’s last album wrong in my review of Forgot About Me. So I figured I owed her.
But if I am being honest, that’s really just an excuse to spend time with Pouty’s latest single, “My Own Beauty.”
If you have four minutes, I recommend doing the same.
This song has many of the qualities I loved on Forgot About Me, even if it takes a different approach. The fuzzy guitars are still here. So are the massive hooks and that unmistakable 90s alternative rock DNA. But instead of charging forward like a grungy anthem, “My Own Beauty” is more patient and atmospheric, blending power pop, indie rock, and just a touch of shoegaze into something bittersweet and quietly powerful.
Lyrically, the song wrestles with beauty in a way that feels refreshingly complicated. There are clearly external expectations pressing in, but there are internal battles happening at the same time. The chorus rises like an anthem of self-acceptance, almost reclaiming ownership over how the narrator chooses to see herself.
But the song never suggests that victory is permanent.
By the time it ends, I don’t hear someone who has silenced those outside voices forever. I hear someone making the conscious decision, every single day, to reject someone else’s definition of beauty before it has the chance to become her own.
Like so much of what I have heard from Pouty, “My Own Beauty” refuses to settle for becoming a one-dimensional empowerment anthem. The uncertainty remains. The doubts never completely disappear. Yet somehow the song still leaves me feeling hopeful. Which is probably why it resonated with me long after it ended.
The drumming is fantastic, the chorus rises beautifully, and Rachel Gagliardi (bold text for emphasis!) once again delivers a vocal performance that knows exactly when to push and when to hold back.
“My Own Beauty” is another reminder that Pouty has become the musical equivalent of appointment television for me. The minute something new drops, I’m there.
Verdict: Masterpiece
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