Big City Life (album)

Last updated

Big City Life
Big City Life (Smerz album).png
Studio album by
Smerz
Released23 May 2025 (2025-05-23)
Recorded2023–2024
StudioVarious (Copenhagen, Oslo, London)
Genre
Length38:00
Label Escho
Producer
  • Henriette Motzfeldt
  • Catharina Stoltenberg
Smerz chronology
Believer
(2021)		Big City Life
(2025)

Big City Life (styled in sentence case) is the second studio album by Norwegian electronic music duo Smerz, consisting of Henriette Motzfeldt and Catharina Stoltenberg. It was released on 23 May 2025 through Escho. [3] The album was preceded by the singles "A Thousand Lies" and "You Got Time and I Got Money," which showcase the duo's blend of art pop, alternative R&B, and electronic sounds. [4]

Contents

Background and release

Big City Life was recorded between 2023 and 2024 in studios across Copenhagen, Oslo, and London, reflecting the duo's experiences in urban environments and their evolving sound. [5] Building on their 2021 debut album Believer , Smerz explored themes of apathy, loneliness, love, and freedom, drawing inspiration from Copenhagen's experimental music scene and their collaborations with artists like Erika de Casier and NewJeans. [6] The album was written, performed, and produced by Motzfeldt and Stoltenberg, with mixing by Smerz and Emil Thomsen and mastering by Emil Thomsen. [7]

Announced in March 2025, the album was promoted with the release of "A Thousand Lies" in February 2025 and "You Got Time and I Got Money" in March 2025, the latter accompanied by a music video directed by Benjamin Barron and Bror August Vestbø. [8] Smerz performed at venues like Copenhagen's Vega to support the album's launch, emphasizing its narrative of urban life and personal reflection. [9]

A remix album, titled Big City Life Edits, was released on November 5, 2025. The album features collaborations with Yrdloop, Astrid Sonne, New York, Haloplus+, Molina, Erika de Casier, Fine, They Are Gutting a Body of Water, Mike, Zack Sekoff, Elias Rønnenfelt, Fousheé, ML Buch, Clarissa Connelly, Cezinando, Toxe, VVTZJ, and Clairo. [10]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic 86/100 [11]
Review scores
SourceRating
Clash 8/10 [12]
God Is In The TV Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [2]
The Line of Best Fit 8/10 [13]
Paste 7.8/10 [14]
Pitchfork 8.6/10 [15]
Under the Radar 8/10 [16]

According to the review aggregator Metacritic , Big City Life received "universal acclaim" based on a weighted average score of 86 out of 100 from 6 critic scores. [11] Pitchfork praised it as "a slinky postmodern pop album" and described it as "music that reminds you of the club but is by no means club music". [15] Clash described it as "a fizzing postmodern fairytale" capturing the chaos and wonder of city living with wit and vulnerability. [12] Hayley Scott of The Quietus praised the album's themes, including "loneliness, mania, self-talk, affection." [17]

Track listing

No.TitleLength
1."Big City Life"2:08
2."But I Do"3:02
3."Roll the Dice"2:07
4."What"0:26
5."Feisty"2:40
6."A Thousand Lies"4:11
7."Close"4:29
8."You Got Time and I Got Money"4:31
9."Big Dreams"3:04
10."Street Style"1:34
11."Imagine This"2:27
12."Dreams"4:09
13."Easy"3:15
Total length:38:03
Track listing and durations sourced from Bandcamp and Resident Advisor. [7] [18]

Personnel

Personnel sourced from Bandcamp. [7]

Release history

RegionDateFormatLabelRef.
Various23 May 2025
  • CD
  • digital download
  • streaming
  • vinyl
Escho [7]


References

  1. 1 2 Hess, Liam (24 May 2025). "Smerz Are the Norwegian Duo Making Off-Kilter Pop Music for the Ages". Vogue. Retrieved 27 May 2025.
  2. 1 2 Crawshaw, Magnus (27 May 2025). "Big City Life (Escho)". God Is In The TV. Retrieved 27 May 2025.
  3. ↑ "Smerz Announce New Album 'Big city life'". Clash Magazine. Retrieved 20 June 2025.
  4. ↑ "Smerz Announce New Album Big City Life, Share Video for New Song". Pitchfork. Retrieved 20 June 2025.
  5. ↑ "Smerz – Big City Life". Bandcamp. Retrieved 20 June 2025.
  6. ↑ "Smerz Are the Norwegian Duo Making Off-Kilter Pop Music for the Ages". Vogue. Retrieved 20 June 2025.
  7. 1 2 3 4 "Big city life by Smerz". Bandcamp. Retrieved 20 June 2025.
  8. ↑ "Smerz Announce New Album, Release New Single "You got time I got money"". Under the Radar. Retrieved 20 June 2025.
  9. ↑ "Smerz Interview: Crafting Big City Life". Electronic Beats. Retrieved 20 June 2025.
  10. ↑ Monroe, Jazz (5 November 2025). "Smerz Tap Clairo, ML Buch, MIKE, and More for New Album Big City Life Edits". Pitchfork. Retrieved 12 November 2025.
  11. 1 2 Big city life by Smerz, Metacritc, retrieved 7 December 2025
  12. 1 2 "Smerz – Big City Life". Clash Magazine. Retrieved 20 June 2025.
  13. ↑ Franzini, Sam (28 May 2025). "Smerz: Big city life review - party on". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved 7 December 2025.
  14. ↑ Soutar, Elise (28 May 2025). "Smerz – Big City Life". Paste Magazine. Retrieved 20 June 2025.
  15. 1 2 D'Souza, Shaad (23 May 2025). "Smerz: Big city life". Pitchfork. Retrieved 27 May 2025.
  16. ↑ Nasatir, Issa (29 May 2025). "Big City Life". Under the Radar. Retrieved 7 December 2025.
  17. ↑ Scott, Hayley (28 May 2025). "Smerz – Big City Life". The Quietus. Retrieved 7 December 2025.
  18. ↑ "Smerz reveal new album, Big city life". Resident Advisor. Retrieved 20 June 2025.
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