Bambie Thug

About

" Genre-spinning gothic heartache-pop "

With an image like a gothic fairy (or, by their own definition, nightcore barbie) and a sound that spans electro-pop, punk and conventional pop stylings, Bambie Thug has dubbed their sound ‘Ouija Pop’. The singer from rural Macroom, County Cork has risen rapidly on the back of infectious, jarring melody and an instantly memorable image. Having once moved to London to study ballet but then broken their arm, causing a move to musical theatre, various elements of Bambie Thug’s storied past shine in the non-binary artist’s varied output.

Taking a metal atmosphere and running with it, borrowing from essentially any genre they can think of along the way, the singer nonetheless cites influences ranging from Led Zeppelin to Dolly Parton, and has displayed that stark variety across three EPs to date. The first, entitled ‘Psilocyber’ was a kind of sampler released in 2021, exhibiting abrupt mergings of style and the first hints at the ‘personal therapy’ angle that makes up a core part of Bambie Thug’s style.

A prolific series of releases including two further EPs, ‘High Romancy’ and ‘Cathexis’, saw them perform at events including Download and The Great Escape, before the selection of ‘Doomsday Blue’ as Ireland’s 2024 Eurovision song catapulted Bambie to a new level of international fame.

The Eurovision performance, unveiled in a more limited form as part of the selection process, is typical of Bambie Thug’s style: avant garde, stylistically blended, unapologetically in-your-face, and evoking plenty of reactions, positive and negative. As an outspoken proponent of LGBTQ rights and a character unafraid to be themselves in every aspect of their creativity, predicting the direction Bambie Thug might take next is challenging, but it’s certain to enthrall.