Song You Need: Dexter rages (softly) over a garage beat on “Vexed”
Shut out the noise with the south London songwriter.
The FADER’s “Songs You Need” are the tracks we can’t stop playing. Check back every day for new music and follow along on our Spotify playlist.
Dexter has a knack making her song titles direct and self-explanatory. "Pressure" was about leaving school and making it in the real world and followed debut EP I Do Love a Good Sandwich )named because, well...) This no-frills approach continues into Dexter's songwriting, which boasts a conversational tone reiniscent of peers such as Arlo Parks and Pinkpantheress.
New song "Vexed" catches the 19-year-old songwriter tapping into U.K. garage, one of the most joyous electronic sub-genres, to work her way through darker feelings. Rage and frustration bubble up alongside the rapid BPM as Dexter, pointedly avoiding people as she stays alone in her room, sings "If you just look into my eyes you'll see, how everything you say just gets to me." It's a crossed-arms and furrowed-brow in song form. A relatable cry for alone time when your social battery is low and the rest of the world is pissing you off. "Vexed," there's no other word for it.