Art School Girlfriend – The Peaks
Polly Mackey nearly stopped releasing music. She kept making it anyway, working alone in her East London studio without any plans for an audience. That decision led to “Lean In”, her third album as Art School Girlfriend, out March 11 via Fiction Records.
“The Peaks” arrives as the second single, following September’s “L.Y.A.T.T.” where Marika Hackman featured. The production hits hard from the start with glitchy, galloping beats that stutter and push forward. Synths rise and fall in waves between moments of stillness and bursts of relentless rhythm. Mackey self-produced the entire album in her studio, giving her the space to experiment without compromise.
The song grapples with wanting to stay alive for the people you love. “I want to give you the peaks, don’t slip, hold me,” she sings over production built to overwhelm. Mackey describes the period of writing as one where everything felt fragile. She experienced what she calls “Big Life Shit” for the first time, seeing how precious and breakable life really is when you have a lot worth caring about.
“Lean In” moves through alternative rock, electronic pop, and experimental ambient territory. It’s existential music made during parallel feelings: grief and joy, anxiety and hope, the effects of age and technology all at once. Mackey works through these tensions without forcing resolution, creating something meant for headphones at 3am when you can’t sleep, or for losing yourself on a dancefloor in the middle of the night.
The album marks a shift from cult bedroom artist to something more vital and cohesive. Mackey originally from Wrexham but now based in London, has been a producer, DJ, and collaborator across British music for years. This record shows what happens when someone gets that rare combination: time, space, and skill all meeting at once.
Tracklist:
- Doing Laps
- L.Y.A.T.T.
- The Field
- Down The Line
- Almost Transparent
- Save Something
- The Peaks
- Hope More, Hopeless
- Lines
- Framer
UK Tour:
- April 7 – Dust, Brighton, UK
- April 8 – Colour Factory, London, UK
- April 9 – Strange Brew, Bristol, UK
- April 10 – Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff, UK
- April 15 – Brudenell, Leeds, UK
- April 16 – Gorilla, Manchester, UK
