Pina Palau – You Better Get Used to It

Not many artists tell a story with such lively ease as Pina Palau. With Outdoor Guy, the Swiss artist has undoubtedly crowned herself one of the best musical storytellers. Written as a cheeky middle finger to ex-partners, cathartic in its biting yet humorous commentary, and also a conclusion letting you move on, it’s pure pleasure to listen to Palau’s tale, accompanied by a groovy and well-balanced country-influenced indie rock.

This was what I was writing in Negative White’s Best Of 2025 list, where Pina Palau ranked—maybe undeservingly low—in fifth place. And yet, it wasn’t just the single Outdoor Guy that highlighted Pina Palau’s exceptional craft. I was haunted by Get A Dog from the namesake sophomore album released in 2024.

Now, Sophie Meerwein, aka Pina Palau, has released You Better Get Used to It, her third album, and I finally got around to diving into it. And I’m not saying it lightly, but it’s a masterpiece.

Circling around love and heartbreak, Palau explores the things left unsaid between people. Sometimes with spite and pithy cheekiness, as in Outdoor Guy, then full of despair and with a bleeding heart as in Something Casual.

You kissed me until I couldn’t breathe
I don’t know what you mean
When you say we’re something casual
It’s not casual to me

But You Better Get Used to It isn’t simply an exercise in introspection. Letter to the Editor is a scathing needle driven into the heart of conservatives.

Back in the days
When your world was in order
A boy was a boy
And a girl was a girl

Radical Sincerity

The stories are accompanied by a synthesis of organic folk sounds, edgy rock and wistful country influences. Always well-balanced, never pompous or overproduced, the instrumentation perfectly reflects the honesty in Palau’s lyrics.

It took me a while to decipher the songwriting’s appeal. Then I realised that there was nothing to decipher. The songs have no hidden meanings, no cryptic messages. Everything Palau sings is meant to be taken at face value. No twists and turns, just direct and radical sincerity. Like screenplays, the lyrics create scenes in your head; sometimes you’re just an observer, sometimes you’re the protagonist.

I cried watching Paul playing drums
There was no way to hide it
Something in the way he hit the snare to the song

The songs on ‌You Better Get Used to It were written and composed by Sophie Meerwein and Simon Borer, also known as Long Tall Jefferson. I can say with absolute certainty that this collaboration has borne rich fruit.

The songs demand your undivided attention, but you’ll be more than happy to give it to them because they’re as sweet as honey to the ear. And if I have anything to complain about, it’s only that the album is a mere 28 minutes long. But even that’s ultimately just a thinly veiled compliment and a desire for more.