REVIEW: Cillë – ‘, but you can call me silly!’

With her debut EP ‘, but you can call me silly!’, Danish-born, NYC-based artist Cillë proves she’s unafraid to mix sharp wit with unshakable sincerity. From the title alone, you know you’re in for something playful, but underneath the sparkle and humour sits an artist grappling with what it means to feel out of place, and finding strength in the strangeness.

The EP bursts with technicolour energy. Synth riffs bounce off crunchy guitars, drums thunder forward with pop-rock swagger, and Cillë’s voice rides the chaos with both power and cheek. Tracks like ‘Neon Trooper’ and ‘Champagne Punk’ showcase her flair for larger-than-life hooks, songs that sound like glitter bombs detonating in the middle of a late-night dance floor. Yet, there’s a pointed undercurrent too: self-acceptance, survival, and what she jokingly calls “odd ball-empowerment.”

Elsewhere, the tone shifts to something darker. ‘All the Haters Are Dead’ imagines solitude at the end of the world with both glee and grief, while ‘Reckless Hearts’ dives into the fatalistic pull of doomed romance, its lyrics tinged with wisdom only heartbreak can carve. These moments reveal Cillë’s depth, the humour never masks the fact that she’s telling stories born of genuine reflection.

Working alongside producer Benjamin Hull, with additional contributions from Kelsey Warren (Blak Emoji) and Joseph Freeman, the EP is stitched together with care. It’s polished without losing its edge, the kind of production that embraces both pop sheen and rock grit.

Cillë calls these her “fun songs for the end of the world,” and it’s hard to disagree. ‘, but you can call me silly!’ is a reminder that joy, defiance, and even absurdity can be weapons in heavy times. By leaning into her quirks, Cillë makes her strongest statement yet: sometimes the most radical thing you can do is laugh, dance, and refuse to blend in.