Following the rise of “27a Pitfield St” on Tiktok from their 3rd album, “Forever,” Bassvictim has been on a steady incline heading to the mainstream. The London duo composed of Ike Clateman and Maria Manow made waves with the release of their first album “Basspunk” in 2024, leading to the creation of a new musical subgenre of the same name. 

Including songs such as “L-ON-D-ON,” and “Canary Wharf Drift,” Bassvictim cemented themselves into the music scene creating unique music of their self proclaimed genre of high-energy electronic music with distorted basslines and almost screamo vocals. This album was followed by the release of a sister album titled “Basspunk 2” with standout tracks such as “Alice,” and “Forever salty,” with their classic high pitched vocals and almost overwhelming amounts of noisy production. 

This was followed by the release of their 2025 album “Forever,” a beautifully cohesive album that explores more sounds outside of what they are known for in the slower tracks such as “Grass is Greener,” and “Ike piano.” But at the peak of their fame, Bassvictim did not view this as a time to slow down, but rather a chance to keep releasing music for their newly gained audience. 

On March 6, Bassvictim released a surprise 4th album simply titled “?” With no leadup to the release of the album, I was unsure what to expect from it, and despite being plainly named “?,” alluding to the album being unsure of what purpose it serves as a whole, it is far from that. Like “Forever,” “?” is a cohesive album that ranges from their normal “basspunk” genre to more slowed and calm tracks. 

The album begins with an eerie violin screeching on the track “Dirge” as Manow sings, “Nothing, going / Now you going / Nothing’s coming / Nothing’s solving,” conveying the sense of uncertainty that the title of the album plainly displays. This track, while short in length, kicks off the album and leads into the second track titled “Sometimes I believe in God (Sometimes I believe in Me).” This track is extremely catchy with its melodic and more upbeat tempo, similar to their other songs within the basspunk genre. 

Track 4 in the album, titled “Going Home,” is one of three songs in the album including the word “home.” The track carries the same violin sound from the first song but makes it more upbeat as Manow sings of being unafraid to leave when she has to as she has “money on [her] mind.”

This idea is continued in the track “Home” in which Manow sings “Home, there’s a reason to let go, we don’t know” and displays more vulnerably the uncertainty of leaving. This track perfectly juxtaposes the fearlessness within “Going Home,” and displays the range that Bassvictim can reach from basspunk tracks to vulnerable ballads. 

Following with their more emotional ballads, “Babcia Jadzia” was my favorite track on the album with its very emotional contents and length of the song, as if to represent spiraling when thinking of a deceased loved one. “Babcia” is Polish for grandmother, and in this track, Manow directly asks her grandmother questions such as “Do you see your granddaughter is born? / Do you see your daughter, great-granddaughter is born? / Do you see, me and my mom together,” overall connecting back to leaving home and the many emotions one can face in doing so. 

With the distorted vocals in this track and the voice of her grandmother in the background, this track displays an extremely vulnerable side of Bassvictim that I have not yet witnessed in their other projects. 

With the closing track of the album, “Home!!! (wake up),” Manow repeats “Wake up we going home / Stand up we going home,” no longer feeling the need to leave, but rather to return to where she once came from. Throughout the album, we are taken through a progression of feeling a need to leave home in search of money, but ultimately returning for one’s family. 

While the title of the album hinted to the idea that it was unsure of what to make of itself, the album quickly revealed that the question mark was a progression of growing up and discovering oneself and the value of family and coming home. This showcases the intentionality and certainty that came with creating this album. Furthermore, this album solidified the diversity of music that Bassvictim can make and has left me thoroughly excited to see them launch into the mainstream and continue creating albums that tell a story.