underscores: My Absolute Favorite Artist

Since mid-September of 2025, a new artist has found their way into every single one of my playlists. Unlike all my other favorite artists and bands who are past their prime or have most of their discography released before I was even born, underscores’ career is extremely active and I see it prospering more in the future than ever before. 

underscores, real name April Harper Grey, is a 25-year-old hyperpop artist that started out by making dubstep on SoundCloud in 2013. She has two official albums, fishmonger (2021) and Wallsocket (2023). On Spotify there’s also boneyard aka fearmonger, that shows up as an album but it’s an EP, that’s a companion piece to fishmonger. She also has tons of singles, some of them being promotional songs for albums or collaborations. Unfortunately I don’t know much about her early career since, I’ll admit, I’m a newer fan. I also just don’t know much about albums, singles, and EPs, or anything about the technical side of music careers. There’s nothing I can tell you that wouldn’t be better said in, like, a Wikipedia article.

I found underscores one night in the middle of September while I was cleaning. I was watching an archived live stream when the Wallsocket album was briefly mentioned as an “emotional rollercoaster”, or something along those lines. I had never heard of this album or underscores before so out of curiosity and boredom, I decided to listen to it while I mopped the floor and it wasn’t what I was expecting at all.

I had been out of the hyperpop scene for 4 years at that point, so hearing “Cops and robbers” for the first time was somewhat shocking. But even in the moment, I remember really loving it. “Cops and robbers” was actually the first song that made it off of the album and into one of my playlists. “Locals (Girls like us)” was even harder to wrap my head around for the first time listening. I remember really enjoying it after getting used to it, though. Then “Duhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh” started and I realized the heartbreaking majority of what this album would be, and I finally understood what the streamer I was watching meant.

I don’t aim to do an album review of Wallsocket. There are plenty of those made by people that know way more about hyperpop as a genre and music in general that could do a much better job than me. But my first time listening to Wallsocket is a core memory that I can recall better than half of my other most essential moments. I also kept listening to that album while I mopped for weeks after I did it the first time.

After falling in love with Wallsocket, I decided to check out underscores’ other stuff. I really love fishmonger and boneyard aka fearmonger, which I now know is an EP. fishmonger is actually closer towards the hyperpop I originally got into back in 2021, specifically “Spoiled little brat” and “Your favorite sidekick”. I somehow never discovered underscores back then though, but ultimately I’m happy I found her when I did. I also really love Wallsocket (Director’s Cut) which is the deluxe version of Wallsocket, “CCTV” has such a special place in my heart.

Since September, I would say that Wallsocket has saved my life 3 separate times. Obviously not physically, but probably mentally. It might sound like I’m giving this album too much credit, but when my life was at its lowest, I had this album to find comfort, joy, and inspiration in. In a social media post from December that I ended up keeping in my drafts, I described Wallsocket as “an album that just so happened to find me at the right time in my life so I could attach and base my whole personality off of it and use it to cope with things I was never taught how to handle.” So that’s a little harsh but I wouldn’t say it’s not true. I’ve additionally tied Wallsocket to what I imagine parts of my future to be like by constantly daydreaming about it while listening to the album. This is a completely new experience and I’ve surprisingly never done this with music before. Also, this is the only album I’ve written a poem after and I think that alone says enough about how much this album means to me.

I’ve tied my identity to underscores’ music so heavily and I think without it, I wouldn’t be anywhere near the person I am today. I feel like since I first started listening to Wallsocket, I’ve gotten closer to who I truly am and who I want to be. It’s really great that I’ve discovered this part of me right before my 18th birthday, it just feels really special. There are seriously so many layers to what her musical actually means to me. In countless underscores songs (not just from Wallsocket), I feel so deeply represented in ways that I have never felt before in any kind of media. Also, I’ve noticed that underscores’ music and her as an artist has given me a strange amount of confidence in my identity and my looks. Since getting into underscores I’ve also discovered a world of new music that I am so grateful for. I’ve gotten into Jane Remover, kmoe, Tiffany Day, Ninarichu, and I’m having so much fun finding more artists.

When I used to listen to older artists and bands, I used to occasionally feel a lot of dread when thinking about how music that was released a long time ago would never be recreated. I mean, you can’t really make 70s music in 2026 (I think I just miss ABBA right now). 

underscores is actually releasing a new album on March 20! 4 days before my birthday and 1 day before prom! The album is titled U and 3 out of 9 songs have been released as singles — “Music”, “Do It”, and “Tell Me (U Want It)”. I love all of these tracks so much. I’m so unbelievably excited for U, because I almost know for a fact that I will love all of the songs, if not, learn to love them. I’ve never actually anticipated new music before. Even when I was into Chappell Roan as deep as I was, I wasn’t dying for “Subway” or “The Giver” to be released. This is almost completely new to me.

Also, underscores is going on a North American tour to promote U! Even better? I bought tickets to one of the concerts! This will be my first concert ever and it’s for my favorite artist. I’m unbelievably excited and I already know this experience (U being released, my birthday, and the concert) will be so special to me in the future. 

In the social media post I mentioned earlier, I also described how it felt “disgustingly intimate” to recommend Wallsocket to anyone because “I held it so close to my heart”. I’ve definitely been able to distance myself at least a little bit from an album that one, I do not own and two, millions of people have listened to. Now I can proudly say that if you like hyperpop or electronic music or if I just interested you in how passionate I am about underscores, I would recommend that you listen to Wallsocket. And then U when it releases. 

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Wow, I’m really proud of myself for not mentioning my big fat crush on underscores and keeping myself focused on her music. She’s literally so gorgeous. 

I didn’t look hard enough to find a spot for this small section I really wanted to add last minute, so I want to talk about my favorite underscores songs here. From fishmonger, my favorite songs are “70%”, “Second hand embarrassment”, and “Dry land 2001”. And from boneyard aka fearmonger, my favorites are “Girls and boys” and “Heck”. Out of the new songs in Wallsocket (Director’s Cut), my favorite is “Stupid (Can’t run from the urge)”, even though I mentioned “CCTV” earlier, it’s not my favorite but it is really special to me. From U, the songs that have been released are all great, but my favorite is “Do It”, I just think it’s a perfect track. And if I had to choose one song from Wallsocket even though I really can’t pick a favorite, I would choose “You don’t even know who I am” and I’m not elaborating.

Anyway, stream U on March 20, have fun at prom, happy early birthday to me, and catch me with my fishmonger lightstick at an underscores concert this summer!!!