Peter McPoland Releases DEBUT Album “Piggy”
Peter McPoland released his debut full-length album Piggy on Aug. 11, 2023. The album follows his 2022 seven-song EP Slow Down and a batch of singles since he debuted in 2018.
Piggy sees McPoland completely veer away from the path he was heading towards on Slow Down. While the singer-songwriter used to focus on indie pop, his new album finds him shifting his focus onto alternative rock.
Opener “Mold” has an electronic-infused alternative pop production and sees McPoland seemingly deal with mental illness, comparing negative thoughts to mold in walls. “Oh, it’s in the walls / Get it out, cut it out of me.” A very dark topic for an album opener, the song breaks loose towards the end as the production swells and McPoland’s voice gets grittier as he repeats “rot away.” The previously-released single “Blue” slows things down for a mid-tempo electric guitar riff-coated song. It continues the theme of the opener but closes in on a specific situation. “Listen up / Come close / I’m fucked / I froze,” he pleads. Much of the record touches on these situations within one’s own mind, including “I Need You.” He shifts this gaze onto needing someone else to aid these situations, as he sings, “Look at me, baby, I’m starting to bleed / I need you to hold me together.” Between I miss you’s, I love you’s and I need you’s, McPoland pleas over distorted vocals and cascading drum crashes to whomever is taking such a toll on him.
Lead single “Digital Silence” extends the story online. One of the most lyrically compelling tracks on the album, the production cuts out throughout the verses to make sure you hear every single word he is saying. “Why don’t you get it? Can’t you get it? Understand / They’re gonna execute the mother to elevate the man,” he sings slyly. “Dog” is where the artist gets the most experimental. He describes the movements and gestures of a dog in detail, loathing the titular dog for how it is behaved. “Damn fucking dog, lock him away, so I never see / Damn fucking dog whimpering, growling, bad boy, don’t speak,” he sings wearily. The production cuts and drums pound as McPoland starts to scream his pleas. One of the most inventive songs of the year, his voice invokes chills. Especially towards the end, as he repeats “stop breathing.”
Although “Dog” was extremely close, the half title track “Ceiling Fan/Piggy” is where McPoland hits his peak. Tying together every theme he has created across the album, first part “Ceiling Fan” is a wittily-crafted indie rock song that compares a ceiling fan to everything that is going wrong in his life. “I’m right here and you’re blocking the light,” he sings. He develops this more vividly as it goes on, as he sings over snares and a sleek guitar riff, “Baby, it’s okay, I know you’re strong / I’ll make it all better, I’ll turn you on.” It fades into second part “Piggy” flawlessly as the background distorts and immediately pushes forward and McPoland’s voice goes loose. “Piggy is fussy, piggy’s a bitch / Piggy annoys me, it makes me sick,” he sings, scathingly. “Piggy” appears to be McPoland writing about himself or someone else through a very close lens, running through the worst traits and doing so while comparing them to a childlike “Piggy.”
For a debut album, Piggy is one of the most well made and well executed albums of the year. McPoland’s artistry lies across the whole record and he shifts said artistry into the world of rock with an insanely impressive amount of ease. Sliding across electric guitar riffs and flurries of drums with gritty and emotive vocals, Piggy cements McPoland as one of the most interesting and best artists in alternative music.
Piggy is now available to stream and buy on all platforms.