Bo Milli stakes a claim as the unapologetic protagonist on "Chewing Gum"

Bo Milli’s latest track "Chewing Gum" sounds like the song that kicks in as the credits roll in a teenage-coming-of-age movie (the kind they just don’t make anymore). If the song were a movie plot, it would follow the protagonist as she uses and drops someone as though they were just a piece of gum. It carries all the sonics of early 2000's pop-punk but treats us to a modern spin, lyrically subverting the traditional female role. She doesn’t submit to being dropped by anyone so takes the role on herself, describing the track best herself, as “macho-posturing.” The lyrics are all the evidence we need to know that she is not the type to comply with any preconceived expectation, and as the listener you can’t help but root for her.

Based in Norway, Bo Milli’s music is steeped in the heightened emotions of adolescence and she plans to express this in her debut EP, a body of work that has been in the making for the last two years. At only 23 she expresses her woes matter-of-factly. She paints an image of loud clubs and quiet mornings after, capturing her age with ease. It just so happens that the alt-pop rock genre suits her lyrics and the many emotions she has to let out.

Describing this latest track, Bo Milli says that "'Chewing Gum' is a macho-anthem expressed with unconvincing and plastic girl-power: totally unapologetic about having used and dropped someone as carelessly as if they were a piece of gum, I excuse this behaviour with the line "I’m a woman, I’ve gotta get it done". The choruses (and the solo) are all bravado, but the verses describe meeting a scorned lover with someone new and hints I’m not nearly as unaffected as I claim to be."

The distorted guitar alongside the echoey vocals makes it cathartic music at its best, full of frustration and relief when played at full volume. It carries all the frustration of a woman scorned presented with all the confident expression of her alt-pop rock predecessors. Bo Milli takes the events of her life and turns them into a catchy hook for others to relate to, evident as ever on "Chewing Gum".