“I can’t stop thinking ‘bout how much you annoy me,” Renee Desreaux sneers on Ms. D’s sharp-tongued new single.
Ms. D have simply reached their wits end on You Annoy Me, a scathing takedown that serves as the Sydney band’s first new single since 2021.
Catching attention merely with its hilariously blunt title, You Annoy Me makes good on its promise of angsty frustration, which simmers under the surface of plucky guitar melodies, fuzzy strums and a jittering percussive throughline.
At first, the annoyance Ms. D sing of is belied by what ostensibly sounds like staple indie-rock. Here, the band make use of jangly rhythms and sun-drenched bass to deliver what feels like a quintessential road trip track.
While Ms. D are clearly adept at this surfy and leisurely sound — complete with airy harmonies and shimmering instrumentation — it’s merely a sonic overlay of the impassioned noise that truly drives the single.
Indeed, by the time Ms. D reach the chorus, You Annoy Me has ratcheted the tempo to fever pitch, opting for a climactic and punchy cadence that, for all its angered delivery, still feels catchy and infectious.
This tight-rope walk wouldn’t be possible without Renee Desreaux, whose blissfully frank delivery teeters between pop confection and soft rock in a vein reminiscent of Missy Higgins’ Scar.
At any given point on You Annoy Me, Ms. D draw from a broad palette that comes to include everything from screechy guitar to clashing cymbals and rapid drum rolls.
For a lesser band, this eclecticism might’ve proved too dizzying, but Ms. D infuse their sounds so seamlessly that You Annoy Me never feels like a mish-mash.
Perhaps the major drawcard of the single is its biting lyricism. Here, Desreaux bares her teeth with an unabashed dressing down of a lover who ceaselessly “frustrates me.”
This frank and matter-of-fact approach to songwriting feels altogether refreshing, as Desreaux laments having to endure arguments and “swallow all my words” in the face of someone who’s “strangling my heart.”
While You Annoy Me marks Ms. D’s final release with the accompanying band for some time, we’ll thankfully hear more from Desreaux with the imminent release of solo singles.
But in the meantime, you can revel in the brash joy that is Ms. D’s single You Annoy Me below.
