Album Review: Gretel - Squish
4.0 / 5
Gothic Fairytales and Grungy Hooks: A Masterful Debut that Squeezes Beauty Out of the Darkness.
There is a rare, electric thrill in discovering an artist at a sold-out show and realizing the hype is entirely justified. Witnessing Gretel (Madeleine Haenlein) at Hackney’s Oslo, her commanding stage presence and awe-inspiring voice was felt immediately, a vocal power that is expertly, and finally, captured on her debut album, Squish.
The record is a masterful blend of soulful vulnerability and serrated edges, drawing inevitable and earned comparisons to early Wolf Alice. The title track sets a brilliant trap, opening as a haunting ballad before "pulling the rug" and dropping into a full-on rock track with bashing drums and gritty, palm-muted guitars. It perfectly encapsulates the album’s ethos: the feeling of being "squished" from all sides by the world, only to push back with a defiant "fuck it." Gretel describes it as a reaction to a "dangerous new world of girlhood," and that resilience vibrates through every track.
That defiance is most potent during the mid-album pairing of "Maybelline" and "Unbloom," which channel the raw, grunge-heavy energy of peak Hole. On "Maybelline," Gretel explores intergenerational womanhood, finding catharsis in "primal howling" alongside her grandmother. These tracks showcase her ability to transition seamlessly from husky, melodic verses into explosive, rocking choruses. The production here is stellar, carrying a weight that feels both intentional and "unfettered."
The road to this sound was a journey of artistic reclamation. While electronic heavyweight Mura Masa was the initial collaborator, Gretel felt her "guitar-kid" instincts being diluted by the industry machine. In a bold move, she pivoted to producer Seth Evans (formerly of Black Midi) to capture a raw, live-band sound at RAK Studios. The universe seemingly approved; the lead single "Unbloom" was famously captured in a three-take flurry just before the studio's power cut out.
The emotional peak of the record arrives with "Darkness, Be My Friend." Taking melodic cues from the psychedelic shifts of The Beatles’ "A Day In The Life," it is a courageous moment of self-actualization. Gretel explores the internal "monsters" and the "fucked" feeling of mental struggle, ultimately choosing to accept her own shadows before the song erupts into a soaring outro.
Ultimately, Squish is a sonic reclamation. It is an honest, gritty, and endlessly listenable debut that balances "dark magic" with a protective softness. After a debut this stellar, we expect big things coming from Gretel.