I was dancing alone in a corner at the I Love My Computer listening party because like a lot of Gen Z I have a fear of crowds and being perceived.
Until a tiny girl in full Kawaii get-up (complete with Sanrio characters attached to her dress) beckoned for me to join the circle of others all jumping up and down together. In this circle, the Harajuku girls danced next to the goths who danced next to the awkward tall guys and so on, all keeping personal space, yet feeling the bass together.
At first glance I Love My Computer might sound like a lonely story. A girl from small town NSW who retreated to the safety of her bedroom, choosing to spend time with her computer because “no one in the world knows [her] better”. On single ‘iPod Touch’ she sings about this isolation: “I’ve got a song that nobody knows”. But you need only look at any of the song’s comment sections online to see how lyrics like “FL Studio free download in my search history” and “iPod Touch yellow Pikachu case” resonate with people from every corner of the digital world.
The title I Love My Computer is not just limited to internet friends – Nina also loves what her computer allows her to create. At the beginning of last year she introduced us to the concept of “Girl EDM”, a throwback to the electronic music of the 2000s and early 2010s. But unlike the cheap nostalgia that plagues today’s media landscape (where every movie is a cynical legacy sequel and every song samples a hit from decades ago), Nina takes yesterday’s sounds into the future, collecting all of electronic pop’s innovations along the way. From the hardcore drops of late 2000s dubstep, to the twinkly synths of 2010s PC Music, plus the radical vulnerability of 2020s hyperpop (even a baile funk beat subtly thrown into the closing track), I Love My Computer comes from a place of genuine love and passion for electronic dance music. Not only in all of the forms it has taken over the last couple decades, but with a determination to keep it evolving.
While boomers can be quick to blame social media for our perceived lack of connection and community, in reality the internet has provided a safe place for those who may be outcasts at home. The queers, the neurodivergents and all other varieties of weirdos have carved out their own spaces, forging lifelong friendships with people who they may only know as a screenname and an avatar. I Love My Computer is music for these communities, whether it’s alone in your bedroom, together dancing in a crowd of people, or alone together in a Discord voice channel.
Words by Jim Kretschmer