Facts and Stats: Freak Slug is the project of the Manchester multi-disciplinary artist Xenya Genovese – a visual artist and painter as well as an unconventional, self-taught songwriter and musician. Genovese moved from Manchester to London to study fine art at university, then to Barcelona where she found the vision for Freak Slug, before returning to sunny Manchester.
Debut album I Blow Out Big Candles (2024) followed singles and the EPs Videos ((including Spotify hit “Radio”, 2020) I’m In Love (2022) and Viva la Vulva (2023), as well as a lo fi collection Girlfriend (2018). Impressively none of the EP tracks are repeated on the album.
I Blow Out Big Candles (But With A Cherry On Top) (2005) is the first vinyl release of the album adding two new bonus tracks.
What The Critics Thought: Clash (5 November 2024) said the album was a “bold and assured statement, blending pop hooks with a sense of nocturnal longing. The result is a grungy set of eccentric love songs built for the hopeless romantics out there”. Far Out (7 November 2024) commended the album as “honest about what it wants to be”. Loud Women (14 November 2024) noted that “the aesthetics of the record echo the zeitgeist’s current obsession with aughts-era DIY and indie sleaze, creating an addictive blend of alt-rock, new wave, trip-hop, and avant-pop that gives the likes of Stereolab and Santigold a run for their money”.
What We Think: Freak Slug is influenced by ‘90s heroes Ride, Mazzy Star and Stephen Malkmus, but finds her own thing on this determined debut. It ambitiously takes a variety of styles – something like grunge-jazz trip hop on “Ya Ready”, dream pop on “Be Your Girl” and “Hello”, electro on “Shiver”. An overall grunge rock approach (well demonstrated on “Get Away” and “Piece of Cake”) does not preclude taking a quieter approach when needed: there’s woozy experimentation on “Witch”, an atmospheric “Sexy Lemon” with Slowdive late night fuzz, and the minimalist spook of “Spells”, which is a daredevil song inspired by Gorillaz written “for the lovers and the I don’t knowers”.
Bonus tracks: the brooding dark “Killer” and the memorable pop “Liquorice”.
Formats: Vinyl, download.
Check out Freak Slug’s session here.
Label: Future Classic
Release Date: 07 MAR 2025
Poetic Justice 
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