Gypsy Lee has never seemed particularly interested in making herself smaller for anybody, and on her newest single, the Melbourne artist takes that attitude somewhere louder, messier and considerably more fun, bringing fellow Australian artist Evie Irie along for a power-pop song about friendship, attraction and embracing the parts of yourself somebody else might find a little too much.
The joke is right there in the title, as Gypsy Lee takes the tired idea of the “crazy girl” and gleefully plays it to ridiculous extremes. She gets kicked out of bars, buys diamonds, makes somebody cry and casually warns a potential partner not to bother trying to change her. There’s jealousy, chaos and even a mysteriously keyed car. But the exaggeration is part of the charm: Gypsy Lee isn’t presenting any of this as a serious relationship manual, as she is playing with the stereotype, pushing it until it becomes cartoonish and turning something traditionally used to dismiss emotional women into an excuse to be loud, complicated and completely unembarrassed about it.
Speaking on the release of the song, Gypsy says that Women are often made to feel ashamed of being emotional or feeling things too deeply. “I wanted to reclaim that label and celebrate the fun, freedom and joy in embracing every side of yourself,” Gypsy adds. “There is no greater joy than getting to work with my friends on music,” Evie further emphasies. “Gypsy is such a star and beam of sunlight, to get to explore her creative world and add my own touch on I Hope You Like Crazy Girls is like being a kid at a candy shop!”
Underneath all that chaos, the song is surprisingly sweet. Its bridge reveals the affection behind the attitude, while the final lines make the whole thing click: this isn’t really about finding somebody’s approval. Gypsy Lee isn’t asking for flowers or promising forever; she’s interested in enjoying herself and owning whatever contradictions come with that. That same idea carries into Wilk’s Melbourne-shot video, which turns the track into a road movie about two friends running around together with nowhere particularly important to be. The destination isn’t the point. “I HOPE YOU LIKE CRAZY GIRLS” works because GYPSY LEE and EVIE IRIE make the chaos itself sound like the best part of the night.
