Review Summary: Scaring the bros.
As someone born in the late 90s and who went to middle school and high school in the early-to-mid 2010s, I got to experience the “scene” movement from beginning to end, in all its glory. While it’s certainly something to look back and wince at nowadays, it’s also somewhat fascinating to reminisce on just how much of a stranglehold the movement’s overall aesthetic had on an entire generation of alternative/emo teenagers. Long, floppy hair that was often dyed in vibrant colors, skin-tight jeans, and dozens of branded or band-related bracelets were all hallmarks of this particular style. Even aside from the aesthetic trends, there were certain behaviors – both in-person and online – that were widely associated with the scene movement. Certain slang terms, like “swag,” were popular in the movement, as well as specific text behaviors, such as ending a message with a smiley face typed like “xD” or “:3.” The reason I’ve outlined all of this is because enough time has passed since the movement’s popularity that we now have a brand new generation of youth who have developed a sense of nostalgia for the period. Although many who lived through the era may look back in embarrassment, there are others who now long for the perceived simplicity and varied personal expression that came with the scene movement. Which brings us to today’s topic of discussion: Ennaria – an emerging hyperpop artist whose entire public persona is dripping with scene aesthetics. Now, it’s understandable if you read that sentence and immediately shuddered in fear at what Ennaria’s debut album,
MANIFESTO, must sound like. After all, it’s easy to hear the terms “scene” and “hyperpop” in the same sentence and have flashbacks to musical travesties such as BrokenCyde and (dare I say) Blood On The Dance Floor.
Believe it or not, I’m here to tell you that
MANIFESTO is an unexpected, resounding success, and one of the most riveting releases of 2026. The album’s overall sound is best described as hyperpop with a heavy emphasis on
hyper. That is to say that
MANIFESTO fully embraces what the genre is best known for – energetic beats, chaotic compositions, and a love of all things loud – and cranks everything up to eleven. Let that also be a warning of sorts: if you’ve tried to get into other prominent hyperpop acts like Dorian Electra or 100 Gecs but found their style too neurotic and abrasive to enjoy, Ennaria will be no different.
Hyperpop is at its best when its inherently chaotic nature meshes seamlessly with pop music’s overall need for catchy, memorable hooks. Any schmuck with time and a computer can orchestrate electronic chaos (it'll sound terrible of course, but it's doable), which indicates that the appeal of hyperpop doesn’t solely lie in its disorganized, hectic nature. There needs to be beauty within all the noise and clutter; there needs to be a method to the madness. All of
MANIFESTO’s highlights have genuinely well-written, earworm hooks that stand on their own. Strip away all the beats and layers of production and you’d still get a song like
Show Off stuck in your head because of how infectious the hook is – regardless of its outrageously over-the-top, cocky lyrics (“Baby’s got back / Baby spits bars / Take one look at me, turn your head and crash your car”). The same could be said about
UGLY, a track that’s arguably even more noteworthy because not only is its chorus memorable, but it features an overall high level of mature songwriting in its verses that is very uncommon in the genre (though good luck making out what she’s saying on your first go-around).
Dysphoria,
Dissociate, and
CRASHOUT are worth singling out as well for their surprisingly honest and heartfelt lyrics about self-image and mental health struggles. None of this is to say that
MANIFESTO is an album that takes itself seriously all the time, which will be made abundantly clear to the listener after the album’s first real track,
ME!!, reaches its climax, thanks to the phrase “me go stupid, me go crazy” being repeated ad nauseum, as well as tongue-in-cheek, goofy lines like “jack my swag, pretend that you hate me” (which easily sounds like it could’ve been taken from an early Skrillex or LMFAO song).
All this talk about lyricism wouldn’t be worth a damn if the music and beats on
MANIFESTO were underwhelming or boring. After all, this isn’t some indie folk release where lyrics are at the forefront of the compositions. For starters, the album is never predictable, even for a second. On your first listen, I guarantee you’ll have no idea what kind of sharp left turns you’re going to be in for with the way the songs on
MANIFESTO progress and evolve; it constantly keeps you on your toes. Each track features a barrage of layered synths, BPM shifts, and beat drops to keep you hooked. This hodgepodge of electronic chaos is incredibly satisfying to the ears about 95% of the time. Take, for example,
CUTE – the song sounds like a Kero Kero Bonito track that’s been given a hyperpop facelift, and it heavily features chopped-up, highly edited, sometimes sampled vocals. And at about the 1:35 mark, there’s an absolutely killer beat drop that arrives completely out of left field in the best way possible. There are also occasional moments of heaviness peppered into
MANIFESTO, each one coming at an unexpected but welcome time, such as in the bridge of
Show Off – the gradual ramping up in energy paired with the screams and chopped up vocals is one of the song’s finest moments. While we’re on the topic of heaviness,
DAMNED is a short-but-sweet minute of hardcore that sounds like it’s been put into an auditory blender, with its high-octane blastbeat drumming and heavily distorted, glitchy sound.
Despite the heaps of praise I’ve given thus far, there is one major bugaboo with
MANIFESTO that keeps me from proclaiming it as a hands-down classic. The album clocks in at 16 tracks and runs for about 50 minutes. That is a fairly long runtime for a hyperpop release, and it’s a frustrating issue to have considering how easy it is to pinpoint the unnecessary tracks that could’ve been left on the cutting room floor – funnily enough, they’re right next to each other on the tracklist.
2 My Haterz is an aimless diss track that features what is easily the cringiest songwriting on the album. Its lack of a memorable hook and unnecessarily juvenile, crass conclusion lead to the song being one of the biggest stumbles on
MANIFESTO. Immediately following this is
Monstarrr - VIP, which is essentially a remix of Ennaria’s 2023 breakout hit,
Monstarrr. While the original track undoubtedly had electronic elements, it was much more of a typical rock song. The VIP version shares the same hyperpop sound as the rest of the album, which results in the track having an identity crisis of sorts. It was obviously intended as a rock song, so the overbearing hyperpop elements added to the VIP version feel jarring and out of place. Simply put, both
2 My Haterz and
Monstarrr - VIP could’ve been cut and it would’ve worked to the album’s benefit. Though it may sound like I’m nitpicking by only singling out two songs out of sixteen, their omission would’ve resulted in the album’s pacing being much tighter and more consistent, and we’d be having a different discussion as to exactly how high
MANIFESTO would be placed in 2026’s best-of lists.
One of the most popular, well-known idioms out there is “don’t judge a book by its cover,” and never has that been more apparent in musical form than with Ennaria’s remarkable debut. If I’m being completely honest, when I saw the album cover and looked up the artist herself, I had every expectation that I was in for a dumpster fire auditory experience. With tremendous respect to Ennaria and with genuine humility, I have to admit how wrong I was.
MANIFESTO will not be loved by all – but if you’re from my generation and have that same gut feeling I did that this album simply cannot be good (and have a penchant for hyperpop), I urge you to drop the judgment and give it a spin. What’s most surprising is that
MANIFESTO doesn’t just borrow scene aesthetics – this isn’t just an album of nostalgia bait slop. The album truly captures the maximalism and emotional vulnerability of the era without inheriting the musical shortcomings of its most infamous acts.
MANIFESTO is unforgivingly loud, danceable, and demands your attention during its entire runtime, and is without a doubt one of the best debuts to come out of 2026.
4.5 out of 5
