★★★★☆
The sensational Biiig Piig is underway on her headline UK + EU Bubblegum Tour. With nomadic roots, growing up in Ireland and Spain and, at present, one foot in LA and the other in London, she’s been on the scene for coming up to six years now, as she gradually snowballs her traction with a glossy, evolving discography.
Not to mention, she’s been busy collaborating with the likes of Metronomy, Deb Never and fellow NINE8 Collective members, including Lava La Rue and Mac Wetha. If you haven’t heard of her by now, that’s got to be a pretty big rock you’re living under.
Electric Brixton welcomed the singer with open arms last night as the biiggest piiglets filled up the sold-out, 1500-capacity venue. For a sense of scale, the previous show in London in November took place in the far more cramped Hoxton Hall, a fifth of the size.
Queuing for the bar disclaimed the night’s crowd pretty clearly, with a couple of posh A&R guys chatting loudly behind me, affirming each other with the classic “Mate, that’s fucking sick”; a Depop girly vigorously checking her app to my left and two strangers in front picking up on each other’s accents, “Oh you’re from Galway. No way! I’m from Dublin”, with both parties there in mutual support of their fellow Irish export.
Without time to waste, Biig Piig brimmed with energy, bounding on stage with her equally amped-up band and opening with the groovy cut ‘This is What They Meant’, taken from her 7-track debut mixtape Bubblegum. Despite the project having its release a mere two months ago, the mixed crowd did their homework on it, with ‘In the Dark’ and ‘Ghosting’ played later on, having the same roaring effect as her initial entrance.
‘Don’t Turn Around’ into ‘Sunny’ rolled on from her opener, indulging in the more soulful, groovier sounds explored in her earlier work. She paired every mood with the synesthesia of colourful stage lighting, living up to the vibrancy of her music.
The lo-fi ‘Perdida’ caused a crowd stir, exposing the day ones as they screamed back the catchy hooks “I just wanna lay here / Smoke my cig and drink my wine”, whilst the verses served as a moment to flex her bilingualism as she recited every lyric about vulnerability and isolation in Spanish.
The set constantly took different directions, flitting from chilled indie bangers like ‘Oh No’ and ‘American Beauty’ to the RnB-infused funk of ‘Roses and Gold’, with her trademark icey-cool vocals playing off every genre.
The true highlight came as the singer transformed the venue into an underground rave, with ‘Picking Up’ into ‘Switch’ into ‘FUN’, all backed by their drum n’ bass choruses, showcasing the varied trajectory Biig Piig is on. The pillowy ness of her vocals shines far brighter against these heavier and grittier production elements. Amid the lo-fi influences, which predominantly comprised many of her earlier tracks, her voice sometimes veered on being overly faded rather than rightfully standing out.
Her 2020 track ‘Liahr’ borrows these same drum n’ bass dance elements. Still, a more recent effort like ‘Picking Up’ sees the singer approaching with a lot more confidence and executing this with aplomb, with the lively crowd reaction to these tracks serving as a testament to that.
The penultimate ‘Feels Right’ brought back the funk, as the chorus incited pretty much any person dragged to the gig by their mate to declare, “Ohhhh, I know this one.” And rounding off the night with an encore of ‘Kerosene’ sealed the deal for everyone’s mutual agreement that Biig Piig is one of the most exciting ones to watch, as the infectious post-chorus had everyone bopping along. Here’s to many more giigs to come from the very promising Big Piig.
