Lauran Hibberd

Hailing from The Island down the coast, Hibberd brings a spirited pop-punk energy and a tongue in cheek sense of humour to her second outing, referencing everyone from Green Day and Liz Phair to Wheatus and Taylor Swift! Now more confident and comfortable in the language of songwriting, this album takes the foundations Hibberd started laying on ‘Garageband Superstar’ and builds them up several accomplished storeys.

The tongue-in-cheek humour that won her praise from the likes of DIY, NME, Rolling Stone UK, Kerrang!, Radio 1 and more is still present, but it’s joined by new layers of nuance and candidness – think songs that can make you laugh, cry and feel less alone, all within under four minutes. Sonically, too, she’s entering new ground, bringing together forever influences like Avril Lavigne, Weezer and Green Day with the likes of Olivia Rodrigo, Liz Phair and Taylor Swift.

After documenting her life to date on ‘Garageband Superstar’, more than anything ‘Girlfriend Material’ captures who Hibberd is in this moment – changed from the artist we met on album one and likely different from the artist we’ll meet in the future. It is, she says, a record that captures everything she is right now. “I’m figuring out who the hell I am,” she smiles. “I’m lighting candles and trying to manifest, I’m reading books, and I’m trying to run – all of these things will fade off in the next two months, and I’ll never do them again, but it’s part of that process.” ‘Girlfriend Material’ courses with that exploratory, sometimes confused, questioning feeling. “It’s very freeing, and I think a lot of people will be able to find themselves in the record the way I have,” she adds. Bolder, braver and more real than ever, Lauran Hibberd is about to hit another steep peak on the rollercoaster of life. You’d be a fool not to strap yourself in beside her.