Shygirl Basks in the Critical Acclaim of Her Debut Album, Nymph

It's just past noon in her home base of London, and Shygirl is already feeling a bit listless.

"I'm a little tired," she warns over Zoom. "If you catch me yawning, it's not because of your questions. It's because of me."

Shygirl has released two EPs — 2018's Cruel Practice and 2020's Alias — but the promotional cycle for her debut album, Nymph, is unlike anything she's endured before. And this time, it seems like she has more ears tuning in.

When the 29 year old started DJ'ing on the side a couple of years ago, she couldn't have anticipated becoming an experimental pop star with a devoted fan base. Also unexpected: the critical acclaim her work has received, up to and including stellar reviews of Nymph from the likes of Pitchfork and the Guardian. (It currently holds an 85 rating on Metacritic.)

"It's been fun. It's been an interesting experience," she says of the album's release. "I didn't really imagine myself in this space. I've kind of been so focused on making the album that I didn't anticipate what it would feel like afterward. So I've just been acclimatizing to that."

She admits to being taken aback by the positive response. "I never expect to be understood sometimes. I could hope for it, but I don't always feel entitled to it," she explains. "I wouldn't have put [the album] out if I didn't think it could stand up to scrutiny, but to actually receive it was actually an overwhelming experience. It was actually quite humbling in some way."

Is she perhaps feeling imposter syndrome? "Less so now," she says. "It's more just that life doesn't always give you what you want, and it doesn't matter if I want it."
With her previous releases, Shygirl says, she didn't put much thought into promotion. "I just made them and put them out," she adds, pointing out that Alias came out amid the lockdown, hindering any real push.

Still, the EP helped her ascension with cuts like "Tasty" and the Sophie-assisted "Slime." She followed that momentum with the single "BDE" in 2021. Featuring British rapper Slowthai, the song reaches "WAP" levels of explicitness, as Shygirl proclaims, "Work me out, bust a sweat/Big dick will get me wet/Drippin' through my panties/You can lick me up on the regs," declaring in no uncertain terms that only the well-endowed need apply.

Lest you think raunchy lyrics are all that Shygirl's made of, she flips that script on Nymph. While sounds like "Nike" and "Coochie (A Bedtime Story)" see the singer reasserting her sexuality, the album offers plenty of variety, both lyrically and rhythmically. UK garage, bloghouse, folktronica, hyperpop, R&B, and hip-house influences coat the entirety of Nymph, whose thematic focus is on love and sex — but entirely on Shygirl's terms.

In "Shlut," she declares, "Woke up feelin' like a slut, yeah, I like that/Hit a couple guys, they concur, I'm a bad bitch," while the chorus paints her emotions more tenderly, "I can't deal with the thought of you leavin'/Me left staring at the ceiling solo/I do better with you on my team and/Stay the night and we can lay low."

It's in these tender moments that Nymph shines. "Firefly," "Heaven," and "Coochie (A Bedtime Story)" are perhaps some of the best cuts on the album for that very reason. "Coochie," in particular, is a standout, telling the listener, "gotta get the coochie coo," playing on the double entendre for the seductive lullaby.
While she worked with producers like Danny L. Harle, Arca, Mura Masa, and BloodPop on the album, it's her partnership with longtime collaborator Sega Bodega that has proven to be the most fruitful. She cofounded the no-fucks-given record label Nuxxe in 2017 alongside him and Coucou Chloe, and the vast majority of the production on Shygirl's catalogue has been produced or coproduced by him. (Six of Nymph's 12 tracks have his input.)

"Me and Sega have been friends long before making music, so it kind of felt natural to utilize that space in music," she explains of her collaborator. "He was the person to ask me to start working with him. Before I ever made anything, he was the person I was making stuff with."

Their work together, she adds, is a testament to their friendship and the freedom they give each other both in music and life. "It set the standard for my other working relationships," she says. "I think it's why I'm particular with who I work with."

Before Nuxxe, Shygirl was drawn to London's nightlife through her work as a photographer's assistant and later a casting agent's assistant. Eventually, she got a job as a booker at a modeling agency, allowing her to meet DJs at fashion events around town and leading her to start DJ'ing herself.

In 2018, she found herself managing other artists, DJ'ing, and making music. Realizing her side gigs were generating substantial income, she quit the modeling agency and devoted herself full-time to music. "I liked my day job, but I was like, This music thing feels like something that can happen now, and I can always go back to my job if I so choose," she says.
Five years later, the gamble has paid off for Shygirl. She has been performing around the globe, she's set to make her Miami debut on the first day of III Points, and she'll go on a headlining tour starting in December. Her appearance at the Wynwood festival will be the first time she's ever set foot in the Magic City, an occasion she admits she's been looking forward to.

"Miami is definitely somewhere I've been wanting to go for ages," she says. "I got this Miami show, and then I got this show in the Cayman Islands, and then I got shows in Brazil, Buenos Aires, and Santiago. I've got a quite nice run of shows happening, and I've been looking forward to this side of the year for a while."

Noting that many of her friends are joining her on the III Points lineup, she says she can't wait to check out Flume and Rosalía's performances in particular. "It's definitely been a highlight of my calendar," she says. "I can't wait to come."

Shygirl at III Points 2022. 3 p.m. to 4 a.m. Friday, October 21, and Saturday, October 22, at Mana Wynwood, 318 NW 23rd St., Miami; iiipoints.com. Tickets cost $119 to $499 via iiipoints.frontgatetickets.com.