A Thousand Mad Things confronts post-breakup chaos on brooding synthpop single ‘Girl’

A Thousand Mad Things—the project of UK-based artist William Barradale—returns with ‘Girl’, a darkly glittering synthpop cut exploring the wreckage left behind after a relationship crumbles. With its pulsing drum machine groove and late-’70s synths steeped in darkwave and queer club culture, the track swings between sensuality and self-destruction.

Described by Barradale as “a rubber band pinging back,” the song captures the raw impulse to chase fleeting highs in the wake of romantic collapse. Lyrically, ‘Girl’ doesn’t shy away from the thornier sides of intimacy, spotlighting sexual disconnect and emotional whiplash with theatrical honesty.

Vocally, Barradale channels a haunting mix of operatic grace and emotional volatility—echoes of Billy Mackenzie linger in every line. With ‘Girl’, A Thousand Mad Things turns heartbreak into catharsis, set to a beat that’s built for the dancefloor but haunted by memory.