I first heard Dogsbody, the debut album by Brooklyn based noise-rockers Model/Actriz, while in Berlin. Though unintentional, the setting proved fitting for an album set at steamy queer clubs on late evenings. Their new album Pirouette sees the emotional intensity being turned up to unstable levels, culminating in a message about reinvention against a backdrop of a world that has taught gay men to feel shame. Remarkably, it’s an improvement on their debut.

Their approach is interesting; an eclectic fusion of styles where the visceral, bellowing distortion is palpable, and the quivering force of every stammering melody makes every song feel on the precipice of falling apart, but the band use lyrical cadences that feel borrowed from ABBA and Lady Gaga. Seriously. The opener ‘Vespers’ has a pre-chorus that sounds eerily like the hook of ABBA’s ‘Dancing Queen’, which should hardly be surprising given singer Cole Haydon worshiped pop icons like Britney Spears and Mariah Carey growing up. The skill is how they take the traditionally masculine rock framework and add layers upon layers of sensitivity to it. The crushing distorted heft is still here, but it’s juxtaposed with dance ready hooks, very gay songwriting and emphasis on femininity that create this unique dissonance that complements the emotional turbulence well.

Lyrically, Pirouette is about unpacking shame. On ‘Cinderella’ Cole Haydon recounts opening up to a hook-up about wanting to have a birthday party themed around the titular princess, but even as a five-year-old kid knowing that these feelings needed to be suppressed to avoid being seen as abnormal and pushing those feelings away as a result. On ‘Poppy’, with its choppy industrial clanking and mammoth bass, even amidst the ecstatic release, Haydon openly admits that he makes so much of his art just to “suffer for the spectacle”, wallowing in the guilt and shame of the past with no way out. Perhaps it’s that insecurity that underscores the yearning for something more out of this hook-up on ‘Diva’.

Then you get to ‘Headlights’, a total gut punch of a track where, against ebbing atmospherics, Haydon describes his first crush, and the relationship he exploited to get close to this guy. There’s no happy ending though, just a lot of internalised homophobia, self-hatred, and hopeless prayers. The plainspoken honesty makes it heart-breaking. The internal stakes are high, and the hollow desperation is palpable.

But don’t let that fool you. This isn’t an album that will succumb so easily. That takes us to ‘Doves’, this album’s penultimate moment. The stuttering one note melody is met with subdued vocals and cryptic lyrics about confinement, or, as Cole Haydon says himself, making a “rapture out of waiting.” As the urgency ramps up, so does the longing to break free. It flows into ‘Baton’ impeccably, a soft spoken closer where, on an album with a lot of fractured connections running through it, Haydon acknowledges the connections he has that do mean more, lending the album’s ending a hopeful air.

It’s the unapologetic vulnerability that makes this album click. Model/Actriz have the audacity to ratchet up the walloping power to unstable levels, the care to add their unique sensitive touch, and the compositional chops to make you want to dance while they do it. A truly unique combination on a striking album. Pirouette is astonishing, utterly divine.

Model/Actriz: Pirouette – Out 2 May 2025 (Dirty Hit)

– Cinderella (Official Music Video) – YouTube