Phixel Returns With Introspective Indie Record "In Dust and Rot"

Two years after her sophomore release, San Diego-based Phixel returns with In Dust and Rot. The seventeen-year-old’s previous works lean into the traditional hyperpop of the 2020s, akin to other successors of 100 Gecs and Charli XCX’s Vroom Vroom. Like hyperpop, Phixel has evolved. Now, she’s ready to take on a new genre. In Dust and Rot is a sonic departure from her previous projects, misplaced flora and SHAPES AND COLORS, leaning into alternative rock and shoegaze sounds.

“It was one singular moment. I kept seeing this album pop up on my Spotify and a bunch of people recommended it to me: To See the Next Part of the Dream by Parannoul. The second I heard that, I knew that that’s where I wanted to venture into the most, where I could really express myself,” she said of her decision to change genres. Parannoul’s moody influence is tangible, but Phixel brings her own edge to her album. In Dust and Rot is dark and brooding, balancing softer moments with thrashing guitars, all contributing to a self-reflective record.

“In late 2022, I spiraled,” she explained, “but luckily I recovered and found music to be an outlet for those experiences.” The album’s title springs from an existential thought from one of Phixel’s friends who suggested: “In Dust and Rot all that will remain is bones.” The album is a “representation of a much more mature version of [Phixel.]”

“When I think about myself from SHAPES AND COLORS or misplaced flora, I think of someone who doesn’t really know the gravity of the real world,” she reflected. Phixel’s previous works were released during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic when she was a mere freshman in high school.

Phixel’s discography is rife with collaboration, but In Dust and Rot features only saoirse dream, a self-described “portland based popstar & emo girl.” Though she was originally intimidated by crafting a record without many features, Phixel “felt like a project that’s so personal, that talks about experiences that are so personal and so deep to me –it should be me.” Left to her own devices, Phixel remains a talent to be reckoned with. In Dust and Rot is a defining turning point for Phixel, and a launchpad for future success in the world of shoegaze and alternative rock.

When I commended Phixel on having now successfully found her sound twice at such a young age, she left me with a thoughtful reply:

“I think anyone can do it.”