If you’ve ever felt like the odd one out, like your mind works in spirals instead of straight lines, or like your power has been quietly dimmed for being “too much,” then Los Angeles-based alt-pop sorceress sydneyunicorns has something to show you—and tell you. Her new 6-track EP, Show & Tell, released May 16, 2025, is a full technicolor ride through the mind of a genre-defying artist who has finally found her frequency and turned it all the way up. The result? A dazzling, deliciously offbeat pop odyssey that crackles with emotion, rebellion, vulnerability, and raw creative electricity.
Born Sydney Angel and now creating under the moniker sydneyunicorns, the producer, songwriter, artist, and photographer has been steadily carving out a lane that exists somewhere between the theatrical grandeur of Lady Gaga, the twisted fairytales of Grimes, and the aching vulnerability of Fiona Apple. But Show & Tell doesn’t feel derivative. It feels like the moment Sydney took the steering wheel of her own myth and drove full speed into a glitter-slicked, neon-shadowed future.
Each track on the EP is a sonic chapter of transformation—part diary, part fever dream, part manifesto. And while Show & Tell is sonically ambitious and stylistically expansive, it’s also deeply personal. The songs were born during a time of unexpected emotional upheaval, triggered by returning to music school in her 30s and confronting buried trauma. This journey led to a life-altering late ADHD diagnosis, which reframed her past and clarified her creative instincts. Rather than hide behind neat pop conventions, Sydney leans fully into the chaos, the beauty, and the complexity of her neurodivergent mind—and the result is one of the most original pop projects of the year.
Opening track SIREN CALL sets the tone with ethereal vocals swirling through pulsing bass and 80s goth-pop textures. It’s not just a song—it’s a summons. With echoes of Stranger Things synths and Kate Bush’s whimsy, the track dares listeners to remember the magic they abandoned in childhood. From there, BETRAYAL switches gears with a sharp-edged, radio-ready banger that nods to Taylor Swift while still maintaining Sydney’s signature lyrical abstraction. It’s pop with teeth, and it bites in all the right places.
The middle of the EP dives deep into the weird and wonderful. MEAN GIRLS LIVE FOREVER is a campy, cinematic showdown that feels like Heathers with a synth-pop heartbeat—dark, funny, and unmistakably original. Then comes UNWELL, a fully unhinged and theatrical moment of absurdist genius that manages to be both hilarious and haunting. It’s one of those tracks that makes you laugh until you cry because, well, it hits too close to home.
By the time VICTIM/SAINT rolls in, the mood turns moody and introspective. A shadowy, intimate track, it’s a quiet standoff between past wounds and present growth. And finally, there’s RIP, a haunting elegy to the younger self we carry through life. It’s cinematic and soul-crushing in the best way, with a final gut-punch twist that ties the EP together in a ghostly, glorious bow.
What’s perhaps most striking about Show & Tell is how it captures the feeling of being “too much” in a world that often asks for less. Sydney doesn’t tone it down—she amplifies it. She reclaims the weird, the extra, the misunderstood, and spins it into shimmering pop gold. This isn’t just a collection of songs; it’s a declaration of existence for those who’ve been made to feel like they need to shrink to fit.
The production is lush, layered, and fiercely intentional. Most tracks are self or co-produced, a testament to Sydney’s growing prowess behind the board. Collaborators like VREDEN, Sofya Wang, CasPark, Grace Moore, and more bring texture and nuance, while mixing by Thomas Warren and mastering by Jack Kennedy give the entire project a polished yet punchy finish.
It’s no surprise that Sydney was awarded a full scholarship to LAAMP and selected for ASCAP’s Harold Adamson Workshop. She’s not just a pop artist—she’s a boundary-breaking creative force with a story to tell and the skills to back it up. Her influences (Lady Gaga, Allie X, Caroline Polachek, Lorde, Buzz, and beyond) are felt, but never overpower the unique identity she’s crafted for herself.
Show & Tell is a love letter to misfits, a battle cry for the neurodivergent, and a radiant example of what happens when an artist refuses to play by the rules. In a pop landscape often obsessed with perfection, sydneyunicorns offers something much more valuable: truth, oddity, and imagination without apology.
If this is what Sydney Angel can do in just six tracks, the world better buckle up. The unicorn has arrived—and she’s not asking for permission.
