“Girl Code” dropped on LA-based singer Edie Yvonne’s 15th birthday, and if the subject matter of the song is anything to go by, she’s having a typically difficult adolescence. The song discusses the age-old but never-stale theme of your best friend stealing your partner, which I can only imagine Yvonne wrote about from experience. (Don’t worry Edie, he wasn’t worth it anyway.)
The song slots firmly into the resurgent guitar-based pop genre, echoing the stylistic choices of other young icons of late (Olivia Rodrigo comes to mind). It’s essential LA pop, with a catchy hook and rhythmic drive. While it’s not necessarily the most polished song, I wouldn’t expect it to be – this is an artist at the beginning of her career. And if “Girl Code” is what she’s doing now, she’s well on the path to having a good run.
The song opens with a filtered guitar-bass-drum intro that returns in full force to support her vocals in the first verse. There are hints of synthesizers in the background, but this song is definitely nodding to pop-rock more than anything else. Yvonne’s performance exudes the promise of a burgeoning pop star – though her voice is audibly one of a young singer still finding her way, it already carries the emotive power to propel her into “possible future pop star” territory.
Lyrically, the song is unabashed and honest. The pre-chorus line that sums up the point of the song, “you always had my back just to stab it/you go find me a boy just to grab him” encapsulates the teenage angst of a double betrayal. Surely this will resonate with anyone from a high schooler going through their first heartbreak to a twenty-something listener still trying to navigate an increasingly difficult dating landscape. Another strong line, “you hurt me again / I lost a friend” is straightforward and effective. When it comes to songwriting, Edie Yvonne has a good sense of what she’s doing.
While it’s not as melodically catchy as I might want to hear, particularly in the chorus, there’s nothing to necessarily criticize about the vocal line. Syllables land where they should, the melodies arc nicely, and all in all it’s a very, very solid pop song from someone who can’t even drive yet. The instrumental arrangement is a little under-produced but again, we’re talking about someone at the beginning of her career here – and under-produced though it may be, it effectively underscores Yvonne’s vocals and carries the song along with a good energy curve. Ultimately this is, for all its rawness, still a very tight and well-executed pop song, speaking to Yvonne’s ambition to meet the stratospheric bar of pop music.
“Girl Code” is, then, a laudable piece of work by an artist breaking her way into the industry. It does its job as a teen pop song, and even leaves the listener waiting for more with the last line, “your hand on the wheel and then we – ”. Cut. Hopefully the implied “crash” doesn’t actually come. I’m excited to hear more from Edie Yvonne.
Listen to "Girl Code" on Spotify here -
You can check out Edie Yvonne’s website here:
A brilliant addition to the repertoire -
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