Single Review: Abi Rose Kelly - Kill the Waitress

Following on from the success of her previous two singles, ‘James’ Corsa’ and ‘Polaroids and Violence’, Abi Rose Kelly returns with her latest track, ‘Kill the Waitress’.

The Liverpool-based musician has had an impressive couple of years – from ‘Polaroids and Violence’ accumulating over 100,000 plays on Spotify to making it onto the 2020 Glastonbury Festival Emerging Talent longlist, she is proving herself as a serious force to be reckoned with. Her gravelly tone combined with slamming drums places her alongside the other female artists leading the way in punk-rock today, and it is very exciting to hear.

‘Kill the Waitress’ is dark, dingy and electrifying, with Kelly’s powerful vocals rolling like an ominous thunder throughout. Moving between subdued, almost mumbled verses to hammering guitars and a roaring chorus, the track shifts effortlessly between lull and climax, all the while retaining an electrifying energy that would shake the walls of any basement club. The bridge is deep and foreboding, punctuating the song with moments of near-dread, before being releasing the listener temporarily into the relief of the chorus, but ready to pull them back at any minute.

Kelly says herself ‘Kill the Waitress’ is about “coming to terms with being miserable and getting on with it”, perhaps turning the song itself into a form of catharsis. It’s the perfect grunge track to vent emotion with, especially with the her magnificent yell in the final chorus, which truly showcases her stellar vocal talent.

If this is what Abi Rose Kelly has given to us so far, she can only be heading to great places. Hopefully we’ll be seeing her take the Emerging Talent stage in the near future, when Glastonbury can finally be up and running again.

Words: Megan FitzGerald