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**In A Poem Unlimited by U.S. Girls**

The story of U.S. Girls feels like watching a brilliant comet streak across the indie sky, burning brightest just before disappearing into the void. Meghan Remy announced the project's end in 2021, leaving behind a catalog that grew increasingly ambitious and politically charged, culminating in the masterpiece that is 2018's "In A Poem Unlimited." Looking back, this album stands as both a creative peak and a prescient document of American unease, making its creator's subsequent retreat feel all the more poignant.

Remy had been crafting her singular vision under the U.S. Girls moniker since 2007, evolving from lo-fi bedroom recordings to increasingly sophisticated productions that sampled everything from Motown to industrial noise. But "In A Poem Unlimited" marked a seismic shift – her first album recorded with a full band, transforming her bedroom project into something that could fill concert halls and command serious critical attention. The timing felt urgent; recorded during Trump's first year in office, the album crackles with the electricity of an artist who could no longer afford to whisper when the world demanded she scream.

Musically, "In A Poem Unlimited" defies easy categorization, which is precisely its strength. Remy constructs a sound that's simultaneously retro and futuristic, borrowing the lush arrangements of 1970s soul and disco while filtering them through a distinctly modern anxiety. Her voice – powerful, theatrical, sometimes vulnerable, sometimes commanding – serves as the album's emotional compass, guiding listeners through a landscape that shifts from danceable grooves to moments of stark introspection. The production, handled by Remy herself alongside Steve Chahley, creates space for both intimate confessions and anthemic declarations, often within the same song.

The album's opening salvo, "Velvet 4 Sale," immediately establishes the record's dual nature as both a dance party and a political manifesto. Over a hypnotic groove that samples The Supremes, Remy delivers pointed commentary about commodification and desire, her voice alternating between sultry come-ons and sharp observations. It's a mission statement disguised as a club banger, setting the stage for an album that refuses to separate the personal from the political.

"M.A.H." (Mad As Hell) stands as the album's most visceral moment, transforming righteous anger into propulsive funk. The track builds from a whispered confession into a full-throated roar, with Remy's vocals soaring over a rhythm section that sounds like it's barely containing its own fury. It's protest music for the dancefloor, proving that revolution and groove aren't mutually exclusive.

The gorgeous "Time" showcases Remy's more contemplative side, with lush orchestration supporting her meditation on mortality and meaning. Here, she demonstrates the range that makes U.S. Girls more than just a political project – she's equally compelling when examining internal landscapes as external ones. The song's dreamy atmosphere provides necessary breathing room in an album that often feels like it's moving at the speed of anxiety.

"Pearly Gates" closes the album with perhaps its most ambitious statement, a seven-minute epic that weaves together personal narrative and social commentary over an arrangement that builds from sparse beginnings to orchestral grandeur. It's the sound of an artist fully realizing her vision, creating music that's both deeply personal and universally resonant.

What makes "In A Poem Unlimited" endure isn't just its musical sophistication or political urgency, but the way Remy manages to make large-scale concerns feel intimate and personal struggles feel universal. She created an album that works equally well as background music for late-night contemplation or as the soundtrack to righteous indignation, a rare feat that speaks to her skills as both songwriter and curator of moods.

In the years since its release, "In A Poem Unlimited" has only grown in stature, recognized as a high-water mark for politically engaged pop music. Its influence can be heard in a new generation of artists who similarly refuse to separate entertainment from engagement, pleasure from politics. That Remy chose to end U.S. Girls at such a creative peak only adds to the album's mystique – a perfect artistic statement that stands as both culmination and conclusion, a reminder that sometimes the most powerful thing an artist can do is know when to stop.