Our genre-blending, ooky-spooky, sex-positive, cutesy horror-core, electric blue-haired feminist icon is back - debuting her first studio album, WEEDKILLER.
Released August 25, 2023 the full-length, thirteen-track album exists in the realm of a rotten, post-apocalyptic wasteland - where bio-harvesting machines (Weedkillers) are the enemy.
Ms Nikko’s former Demidevil alter-ego has been left to rot (‘Worms’ and all), and she has now evolved into a nym - a fantasy faerie with a symbiotic relationship with mother nature or the “mother trees”.
Ultimately, the album is a commentary on climate change and the rise of machines (rapid evolution of technology) and their part in the world’s destruction - all of this explained further in Ashnikko’s DC Comic: Husk: A Tale From The WeedKiller Woodlands.
Queen Nikko often ties politics and meaning to their music, with this album as no exception. Pre-order album and merchandise proceeds were donated to the One Tree Planted foundation.
Anyone who knows me, knows how big of an Ashnikko music fan I am - so I will try and review this album with as little bias as possible.
This album doesn’t play, instantly kicking off with the upbeat ‘World Eater’ - where our nym embodies a combat-cyborg ready to rip apart machines with bullets and cleavers.
The album still has the dark, gory and bratty rejection of gender expectations and repossession of femininity and body autonomy that fans expect with rotten tracks like ‘Worms’ and ‘You Make Me Sick’.
The album also brings sensuality, sexiness and flavour with tracks ‘Don't Look At It’ and ‘Super Soaker’ (feat. Daniela Lalita), and tenderness with the soft ‘Dying Star’ (feat. Ethel Cain).
I described the album to friends as a beautifully rotten-corpse, offering a full range of emotions that is best when listened to from start to finish.
I love the entire album, but the stand out songs for me are ‘Cheerleader’ - which makes you feel like a beautiful, unstoppable b*tch, and ‘Chokehold Cherry Python’ - which sounds like a Femme Fatale’s theme song.
My only disappointment with this album is its short run time, at only 33 minutes, because I always want more Ashnikko, but it does make it easy to listen to.
Check out Weedkiller on Spotify or Apple Music today, or purchase the album and associated merchandise here - let’s restore some forests!