Ugly When You Love Me Finds Exzenya Pushing Electro Pop to Its Breaking Point

Oregon-based independent artist, Exzenya, has undoubtedly been one of my favourite musical discoveries of the year. Having had the privilege of interviewing the musician and reviewing her haunting track, Captivity, what I found most alluring about her work was its unpredictability. 

A background in psychology, conflict resolution, and applied behaviour analysis, Exzenya translates those human complexities into sound, and the result, in my experience, is always something rather special.

Ugly When You Love Me is the artist's most recent single - and it couldn't be more sonically dissimilar to its predecessor, Captivity. Sure, it still has a dark and eerie undertone, but it also pushes the very limits of how far one can take electro pop. A pulsating and, frankly, ferocious offering, two minutes and forty-two seconds tear past you in a flash, and you're left wondering what exactly just came charging at you like that.

Cinematic, unconventional, and emotionally immersive, Ugly When You Love Me is another fine example of just what Exzenya is all about. Examining the manipulation and inner corrosion that hide beneath love's surface, it's another genius and unflinching piece of music from a musician I simply cannot get enough of!

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