Lauren Mayberry Vicious Creature
Lauren Mayberry's Vicious Creature arrives as a solo manifesto that foregrounds retro-pop craft and pointed feminism, and critics largely find it rewarding if uneven. Across eight professional reviews the record earned a 71.25/100 consensus score, with praise focused on songs that pair 1980s and 1990s pop nostalgia with frank commentary on gender, industry sexism and family ties.
Reviewers consistently highlight standout tracks as proof of Mayberry's solo identity: “Change Shapes” repeatedly surfaces as the album's bubbling, vogue-adjacent centerpiece, while the piano-led intimacy of “Oh, Mother” and the anthemic thrust of “Something In The Air” earn frequent praise. Critics also point to “Mantra” and “Shame” for their icy art-pop textures and lyrical bite. Professional reviews note recurring themes of femininity, resilience, mother-daughter relationships and a refusal of gendered expectations, with moments that mix synth-pop lushness and punk-tinged urgency.
Not all commentators are equally persuaded: some reviews commend the record's theatrical flair and emotional clarity, while others find occasional lapses into generic synth strings or an ideas-workshop feel that weakens cohesion. Yet the prevailing critical consensus suggests Vicious Creature is worth listening to for its best songs and its bold, personal voice. As an early solo statement it stakes out Mayberry's intention to trade Chvrches-style walls for sharper pop immediacy and a more intimate set of concerns, setting the stage for her next moves.
Below follow full reviews that map where the album thrills and where it searches for focus.
Critics' Top Tracks
The standout songs that made critics take notice
Oh, Mother
6 mentions
"Led by gentle piano chords, it is reminiscent of Tori Amos’ ‘Winter’ and is a fragile tearjerker of a song."— Clash Music
Mantra
5 mentions
"Tracks like "Crocodile Tears," "Shame," "Mantra," "Change Shapes," and the glittering, majestic "Sunday Best" pulse with vibrant synths"— Under The Radar
Shame
4 mentions
"Tracks like "Crocodile Tears," "Shame," "Mantra," "Change Shapes," and the glittering, majestic "Sunday Best" pulse with vibrant synths"— Under The Radar
Elsewhere, ‘Change Shapes’ is a delicious bop of a track, landing somewhere in the Venn diagram between Sugababes’ ‘Push The Button’ and vogueing
Track Ratings
How critics rated each track, relative to this album (0-100). Only tracks that made critics feel something are rated.
Something In The Air
Crocodile Tears
Shame
Anywhere But Dancing
Punch Drunk
Oh, Mother
Sorry, Etc
Change Shapes
Mantra
A Work Of Fiction
Sunday Best
Are You Awake?
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What Critics Are Saying
Deep insights from 10 critics who reviewed this album
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Critic's Take
Lauren Mayberry makes clear on Vicious Creature that solo life is about reclaiming play and femininity while clapping back at being boxed in. The best songs on Vicious Creature - notably “Change Shapes” and “Sorry, Etc” - pair buoyant pop craft with a real bite, the former a bubbling pop nugget with a freewheeling payoff, the latter running on brittle punk energy. Elsewhere, “Crocodile Tears” leans into 1980s glitz and “Sunday Best” offers a hands-in-the-air nod to All Saints, even as tracks like “Anywhere But Dancing” occasionally plod. The result is a shapeshifting debut that feels wilfully unbothered about cool, and often thrilling when it lets loose.
Key Points
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The best song, "Change Shapes", is best for its bubbling pop craft and a freewheeling payoff that critiques conformity.
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The album's core strengths are its reclamation of femininity, genre-shifting pop-punk energy, and confident self-assertion.
Themes
Critic's Take
Lauren Mayberry's Vicious Creature most shines on songs like “Something In The Air”, “Sunday Best” and “Anywhere But Dancing”. The reviewer praises the album's balance - glittering synth anthems sit beside quietly devastating acoustic moments, showing why these are the best tracks on Vicious Creature. “Something In The Air” is held up as a towering chorus moment, while “Anywhere But Dancing” and “Oh, Mother” are singled out for intimate emotional clarity. Overall the record establishes Mayberry as a confident solo voice, with those standout songs proving her strength as a songwriter.
Key Points
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The best song, "Something In The Air," is best for its towering chorus and the sense it matches her best previous work.
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The album's core strengths are balanced synth-pop craftsmanship and intimate, emotionally direct acoustic moments.
Themes
Critic's Take
Watching Lauren Mayberry unfold as a solo artist feels revelatory on Vicious Creature, where the best songs - notably “Something In The Air” and “Change Shapes” - crystallise her voice. The album leans into ’80s pop and ’00s R&B with theatrical flair, and tracks like “Something In The Air” confront mansplaining while “Change Shapes” is a delicious, vogue-adjacent bop. There is bite and sparkle throughout, so the best tracks on Vicious Creature are the ones that pair pointed lyrics with irresistible hooks, making this a sonic origin story worth the wait.
Key Points
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The best song, "Something In The Air", is strongest for its soaring confrontation of mansplaining and confident opener role.
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The album's core strengths are its blend of ’80s pop and ’00s R&B influences, pointed lyrical themes about female experience, and irresistible hooks.
Themes
Critic's Take
Lauren Mayberry's Vicious Creature is rewarding and immediate, and the best songs here - notably “Change Shapes” and “Oh, Mother” - show why her solo voice matters. The reviewer hears pop immediacy rather than Chvrches' massive synth walls, praising “Change Shapes” as the album highlight and singling out “Oh, Mother” for its warm, Christine McVie-like heartbreak. Overall, Vicious Creature feels personal and well-written, a solo record that rewards thoughtful listening.
Key Points
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“Change Shapes” is the standout for its strong chorus and Madonna-like shape-shifting that anchors the album.
Themes
Critic's Take
Lauren Mayberry's Vicious Creature is a solo record that relishes pop with bite, and the best songs - notably “Crocodile Tears”, “Shame” and “Change Shapes” - get the balance just right between dance-floor immediacy and pointed commentary. The icy art-pop of “Mantra” and the fragile piano-led “Oh, Mother” show off Mayberry's range, even if they sit apart from the rest of the set. Conversely, “Sorry, Etc” tries for abrasive noughties energy but ends up feeling messy rather than empowering. Overall, the album is uneven but contains intelligent, bold tunes that make this a rewarding, if searching, solo debut.
Key Points
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The best song(s) balance danceable pop and pointed commentary, exemplified by “Crocodile Tears”.
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The album's core strengths are bold, intelligent songwriting and a mix of intimate balladry with fiercer pop production.
Themes
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Critic's Take
Steve Erickson watches Lauren Mayberry lean into a ruthless, take-no-shit diva persona on Vicious Creature, where moments like “Crocodile Tears” and “Mantra” amplify that femme fatale pose. He admires the Tori Amos–tinged piano of “Oh, Mother” and the menace threaded through “Change Shapes” and “Sorry, Etc.” Yet Erickson finds the irony undercut by generic synth strings and calls the closer “Are You Awake?” anticlimactic, which saps some of the album's intended bite.
Key Points
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The best song emphasizes Mayberry's femme fatale persona with provocative lyrics and melodic hooks.
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The album's strengths are its thematic focus on female experience and occasional strong arrangements, but inconsistent production and an anticlimactic closer weaken its impact.
Themes
Critic's Take
Lauren Mayberry’s Vicious Creature finds its strongest moments in the blunt opener and the album’s quieter confessions, with “Something In The Air” and “Oh, Mother” standing out. Geraghty writes with a clear ear for theatricality and emotional candour, praising the anthemic thrust of “Something In The Air” while noting the heart-stopping hush of “Oh, Mother”. She flags retro bops like “Crocodile Tears” and trancey cuts such as “Mantra” as memorable, even when the record sometimes feels like an ideas workshop rather than a unified statement. Overall, the best songs on Vicious Creature are those that balance Mayberry’s sharpened lyricism with bold musical turns, offering a compelling preview of her solo trajectory.
Key Points
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The opener “Something In The Air” is best for its anthemic immediacy and thematic punch.
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The album’s core strengths are Mayberry’s emotional candour and willingness to span theatrical pop and hushed vulnerability.
Themes
Critic's Take
Lauren Mayberry's Vicious Creature is at its best when it slips the anchor of its obvious influences and heads somewhere stranger - that is why the best songs on Vicious Creature are clearly “Mantra” and “Sorry, Etc”. Equally, tracks like “Punch Drunk” earn praise for their driving bass, distinguishing themselves from the pleasant-but-USP-free moments such as "A Work of Fiction".
Key Points
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The best song, "Mantra", stands out because of its originality and disjointed arrangement that refuses easy comparison.