The Queen is dead, long live the Queen. This is what papers across the country should have read out following the death of Queen Elizabeth II. For at this time, another monarch was beginning to solidify her reign — not from a palace, but from a university bedroom. PinkPantheress has, in a remarkably short span, become the new sovereign for British youth culture, a role she seems to have knowingly embraced. One need only look to the Bridgerton-inspired video for ‘Tonight’, where she wanders through a stately home in full aristocratic dress. Her dominion has been built on two-minute bursts of garage-inflected melancholy that have conquered feeds. Fancy Some More? feels like a royal decree from this new throne.
The 24-year-old has proven she has a preternatural ability to make the most worn-out references feel like they’re on the bleeding edge of cool. Her new remix project doesn’t have the ultraconceptual bent of Charli XCX’s Brat remix project from last year, but it moves with the same confidence. Who else would have the cheek, taste, and clout to gather all these people under one roof?
Under that roof, she presides over what feels less like a feature list and more like a cultural summit. She has assembled her own artistic Commonwealth, a global network bound not by commercial allegiances but by a shared sonic sensibility. Each remix is an act of soft-power diplomacy, forging alliances not just between genres, but between the young monarch and the elder statespeople she idolises. It’s bridge-building as a coronation tour, a way of securing her reign by honouring its architects.
Scanning the guest list must be what it’s like to flick through Pink’s iPod. The attendees are split into two delegations, corresponding to the project’s two discs: one for vocalists and the other for producers. On the vocalist side, you have K-pop ambassadors (SEVENTEEN and Yves from LOONA), alt-pop it girls (Oklou, Rachel Chinouriri, Ravyn Lenae, Bladee), and centrist stars with underground clout (Zara Larsson, JADE, Kylie Minogue, JT, Sugababes). The producer disc features artists who clearly influenced Fancy That (Basement Jaxx, Groove Armada, Joe Goddard), alongside upstart local talent (Nia Archives, Leod, Kilimanjaro), and Kaytranada, a frequent collaborator with Pink who fits any and all remix albums. The project is rounded out with a coterie of Brazilians — Anitta, DJ Caio Prince, Adame DJ, and Mochakk.
Oklou drags the Basement Jaxx sample on ‘Girl Like Me’ as far out of its original context as she can take it, making the refrain of “let it all go” sound less like dancefloor hedonism and more like a tired attempt to get over a lingering heartbreak. JT’s verse on ‘Noises’ is explosive and absolutely magical, exposing the original track and everything it was missing.Except for Kaytranada’s perfunctory offering, which sounds roughly the same as every other Kaytranada remix in recent memory, these tracks were made with a level of care uncommon for major-label remix albums. Fancy Some More? feels like a genuine celebration, reaffirming the central decree of her reign: that pop music, done right, feels like the key to a smarter, freer world.
“PinkPantheress, circa 2025” by /u/vivianaq on Reddit is licensed under CC BY 4.0.