In her latest full-length album, April Harper Grey, better known as underscores, blends the gritty transgressiveness of her hyperpop sensibilities with pristine production and a sharp fixation on what we do for those we care about — and what we want those who care about us to do, too.

The aptly titled “U” strikes a subtle balance in its lyricism and musicality. Tracks play with crunchy-biting electronic soundscapes paired with pleas for attention and a want to be desired contrasted with soft, dreamy tones coupled with vulnerable, incisive looks behind the curtain of Grey’s own sense of her public image and presence in relationships.

All at once, the album packages itself as an often danceable record, benefiting heavily from the early days of underscores with all its club, dubstep, and electronic influences. The dexterity with which Grey maneuvers through — and defies — clear genre conventions is remarkable to behold. Songs can bounce from clear-cut electronic pop to dark, almost unsettling dubstep and back.

Throughout, there is an undercurrent of seemingly unsatisfied sexuality, with the opening moments of the album on “Tell Me (U Want It)” sounding like the rabid panting of someone actively engaged in a sexual encounter. Paired with lyrics like “You gotta tell me you want it, tell me you want it / Is this doing anything for you, baby? Yeah,” the listener is given the clear impression of Grey wanting to be wanted.

“U” manages to simultaneously explore themes of fame and popularity, cluing the audience into what appears to be Grey’s personal struggles with navigating her life as a prominent part of the hyperpop scene and desires as a human outside of it. Her approach is reminiscent of some of her collaborations with underground rapper Danny Brown on his latest album “Stardust,” but here it is fleshed out and given space to breathe.

The track “Hollywood Forever” is a surprisingly impactful meditation on this idea, as Grey asks quite literally “Don’t you wanna come be famous with me?” before asking not to be buried in the Hollywood Forever cemetery, where Judy Garland, Burt Reynolds, and Cecil B. DeMille are all interred alongside numerous other celebrities.

Across the album’s nine tracks, underscores builds an incredibly compelling narrative of love, fame, and loss. Tracks like “Lovefield” and “Bodyfeeling” strip back the emotional storytelling to its most pure, as Grey sings about wanting someone to give their all to a relationship and acknowledges that she doesn’t feel right in it, yet stays nonetheless, respectively.

“The Peace,” too, shows underscores exploring the things she’ll give for a relationship, and how the other person therein comforts her. At the same time, Grey expresses the desire to spend more time together, so long as the feeling is reciprocated. She “won’t smoke unless you smoke some more,” solely wanting to share the peace with her partner.

Placed on either side of the grippingly energetic “Do It,” the tracks highlight the tight album-spanning narrative of an almost obsessive romantic entanglement, concluded with the almost ethereal, dreamlike “Wish U Well,” as Grey lets this person go, seeing them sometime later. Driven forward by the sharp sound of plucked acoustic guitar — an odd, beautifully disorienting sound in a sea of synthesizers and electronic drums and bass — the track is a genuine cathartic release. It concludes nearly 35 minutes of intricately woven storytelling, finally freeing Grey from the album’s central relationship.

Though a relatively short LP, it is never lacking detailed, rich production. Grey self-produced the project, and brought with her the same attention to and care for internet-inspired sounds in her tracks, modulating voices and synthesizers heavily to make each song feel unique.

Her work often has an almost self-aware playfulness to it. The track “Music” is a prime example, chopping up vocals and layering different synths, drums, and other digital sounds on top of each other building to the eventual beat drop. The following heavy drums let each piece of her romantic and musical puzzle cascade away as the song concludes, leaving a sincerely satisfying resolution for the audience.

“U” is an album worthy of numerous re-listens. Each new experience with the tracks leaves something previously undiscovered waiting to be heard. Small details, like sound or vocal effects, build into a final product that continues to unfold as long as it continues to be experienced.

With a riotously fun and deceptively emotional third album, underscores packs a substantial punch into a small form-factor on “U,” crafting an experience whose diversity of sound and feeling make it well-worth the listen.

—Staff writer Hugo C. Chiasson can be reached at [email protected] or on Signal at hcc.35. Follow him on X @HugoChiassonn.