With nine songs in only 20 minutes, \u201cFancy That\u201d maintains the TikTok-era economy of PinkPantheress\u2019 early work. It\u2019s also full of samples from the likes of Underworld, Basement Jaxx and Panic! at the Disco \u2014 one reason, perhaps, the singer, 24, describes it as a mixtape rather than an album. (An accompanying remix set, \u201cFancy Some More?,\u201d features appearances by Basement Jaxx, Kylie Minogue, Sugababes, Ravyn Lenae<\/a> and Groove Armada, among many others.)<\/p>\n Yet \u201cFancy That\u201d showcases an expanding emotional palette too \u2014 it\u2019s by turns funny, wistful, horny, melancholy and unimpressed. She spoke about it over matcha lattes in Los Angeles, where she lives when she\u2019s not back home in London. \u201cIf you\u2019re a musician, it\u2019s sold as the place to be,\u201d she says of L.A. \u201cI was trying not to like it, but I really do.\u201d<\/p>\n You\u2019re enjoying the city despite yourself. Why? What do you do in L.A.? If you\u2019re at a restaurant, it\u2019s hard for you not to think about the fact that someone might know who you are. What are the disguises? So pop stardom \u2014 enjoyable or not? I mean, you could. That would be poor form? Do you drive? You like driving here more than in London? Why? You must know. What kind of car was it? In a recent interview<\/a> with Zane Lowe, you named the people you called your blueprints: M.I.A., Kelela and Tinashe. All are well-regarded trailblazers, but none of them, I would say, is a pop superstar. That made me wonder: Do you want to be top of the pops? Do I want to be top of the pops? I think that might be too much pressure. I don\u2019t enjoy having to explain myself, and I worry that being big would make me have to explain a lot about myself. However, I do want to be well-regarded. I do want to be influential. And I do want to not have to worry, How well will this do? It\u2019s less about top of the pops and more about having a very loyal fan base, which I prioritize above everything else.<\/p>\n I spoke with Lorde<\/a> recently, and she told me she aches to be understood even though she wishes she didn\u2019t. You said you don\u2019t like explaining yourself. But do you feel compelled to? So it\u2019s kind of gone from not explaining myself to explaining too much. I hated that, too, because then it got people asking me more questions. Now I don\u2019t want to explain anything anymore.<\/p>\n You\u2019ve got the Sugababes on your remix album. Great example of an act that\u2019s beloved in England but couldn\u2019t get arrested in the States. Why do you think some U.K. acts cross over and some don\u2019t? You mean TikTok. Did you use TikTok because that was the platform you were good at or because you knew it was the platform with the broadest reach? What\u2019s bad about the internet? At what age? Whereas now you have to question whether something is real or AI. Is TikTok still fun? You just make your posts \u2014 Did someone say to you, \u201cListen, you need to stop scrolling\u201d? Everyone\u2019s addicted to scrolling. Do you drink? Smoke weed? Why no drugs? What are you afraid of happening? Dying? \u201cI don\u2019t think American people are put off by Britishness,\u201d says PinkPantheress. \u201cI don\u2019t think the music is too crazy for them to get it.\u201d<\/p>\n (Jason Armond \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n Who said no to being on the remix album? Were your feelings hurt? Surely you\u2019ve said no to people at this point. Have you heard the Lily Allen album? Thoughts?
I think for me, it was just a case of: When I\u2019m comfortable somewhere, I don\u2019t enjoy exploration. What I know to be safe is where I stay.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s something with the way my brain works \u2014 I don\u2019t think it\u2019s a choice. My brain associates change \u2014 different environments and travel \u2014 with fear. I don\u2019t go on holiday because of that reason. I find it very difficult because I genuinely don\u2019t feel safe. Doesn\u2019t matter where I am.<\/p>\n
I hang out with my friends. I get food. I do all the regular things. But it\u2019s taken me years. When I first got here, I wasn\u2019t like, Oh my God \u2014 the Hollywood sign! It was just like, Lemme find my footing. I think getting my house was when I was OK. I don\u2019t like the stress of going out somewhere and being worried about how I come across to people.<\/p>\n
On occasion, if I\u2019m not disguised well enough.<\/p>\n
I think I\u2019m gonna stop wearing my hair out in public.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s as absurd as everyone says. But it is 100% what I\u2019ve always wanted to be. So I can\u2019t complain now.<\/p>\n
But I shan\u2019t.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m a big believer of my words having an effect on everything I do going forward. So if I was to become comfortable complaining about my job \u2014 when I worked so hard to get here \u2014 then it\u2019s gonna carry with me and it\u2019ll come out in my behavior.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1766022788_586_hqdefault.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
I love driving. That\u2019s another reason I like it here, because I can drive.<\/p>\n
I have a nicer car here. Well, actually, I don\u2019t have a car in London anymore. The police took it.<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n
I actually just don\u2019t know. I literally got there and it was gone, and I was like, Fine. It was so cheap \u2014 like 2,000 pounds.<\/p>\n
A Peugeot 208.<\/p>\n
I feel like in order to be top of the pops, I\u2019d have to compromise a lot about my artistic choices. However, if the post-\u201cBrat\u201d<\/a> era has taught us anything about music, it\u2019s that you can actually be as experimental as you want, and if it translates, it will translate. So actually it\u2019s not necessarily a recipe that\u2019s too formulaic, as one would think.<\/p>\n
I would say I definitely under-explained myself early on. And unfortunately that was a crucial error because \u2014 had I been on top of explaining my music and my musical mind from the jump \u2014 maybe now I\u2019d be taken more as a producer. But because I didn\u2019t, and because of the way I present myself, I do think people take me as more surface-level pop, and I\u2019m actually not \u2014 I\u2019m actually fully an art girl, like all the women I\u2019ve mentioned.<\/p>\n
If you have someone on your marketing team that prioritizes America, then I\u2019m 99% sure you can always do it. I don\u2019t think American people are put off by Britishness \u2014 I don\u2019t think the music is too crazy for them to get it. The reason I did well in America was because I used a platform where the majority of users are American.<\/p>\n
I had no idea how it worked \u2014 I just thought about what has the most reach. I\u2019m a child of the internet. I\u2019ve always been online.<\/p>\n
There was a time when I would have said nothing.<\/p>\n
Sixteen \u2014 even older, honestly. The whole push of generated stuff has made it so unbelievably different. Back when I was on the internet, you wouldn\u2019t have to second-guess any post you saw.<\/p>\n
Is this propaganda or is this not? That\u2019s bad.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t really go on social media at all, so I don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n
And dip. Or I interact with people that help me towards my craft. People that make fan edits, I love it, so I\u2019ll interact with them. But I don\u2019t really scroll.<\/p>\n
No. I actually have no vices, so I didn\u2019t have a problem with it.<\/p>\n
Hell no \u2014 I\u2019m not. If I want to stop something, I can stop right now.<\/p>\n
I can\u2019t do any drugs. I get drunk once or twice a month, and that\u2019s my limit. I make sure to count that.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m a hypochondriac.<\/p>\n
Dying. Also, it\u2019s just not enjoyable for me. When I get drunk, that\u2019s the best amount of chaos I can experience in my inner self.<\/p>\n
Too much coke could kill you \u2014 cause an arrhythmic heart. And as I\u2019ve said, if I fear something, I\u2019m not gonna step foot towards it.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
No one said no. But I don\u2019t ask people that I know are gonna say no \u2014 I just refuse to ask them. There was one person that was like, \u201cOh, I saw this too late\u201d [makes \u201cYeah, right\u201d face]. And one person didn\u2019t reply. Maybe two people didn\u2019t reply.<\/p>\n
No. Yeah. Maybe. When it comes to features and everything like that, I very much understand \u2014 I get how the mind of a singer works. I think people that get hurt are maybe not putting themselves in their shoes.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a horrible feeling. And I try and make it work as much as possible. But sometimes it just doesn\u2019t make sense. The vibes are off.<\/p>\n
Yes.<\/p>\n
Really good. And earnest.<\/p>\n