AVERY COCHRANE is Shapeshifting into the Next Big Thing! | Male Validation and Other Drugs
Shapeshifting on a Saturday Night has been living in my head rent free since it was first teased, and now we finally have the album to go with it. With only seven songs, it is short but sweet, and the perfect introduction to Avery Cochrane: pop music’s best kept secret.
Avery is by no means new to the music scene, having already amassed almost half a million monthly listeners on Spotify through previous singles and EPS, but has only now released her first album on 27 March 2026. Male Validation and Other Drugs – apart from a genius title – is a tribute to intoxication. Addiction to the very best of feeling at your worst. But will it be just as addicting to listen to?
Griever
Griever was Male Validation’s second single, released earlier this year. Opening with the chorus immediately establishes the intensity of the album, which then settles into a traditional pop sound with the first verse. It strays from convention, exploring a breakup three years later rather than as a fresh wound. It’s a unique perspective on missing someone, being without them longer than they were yours – especially when your feelings never really left. However, the pain is still as raw as if it were inflicted yesterday – if not worse. She accuses her ex of flaunting his new partner and refusing to leave her alone, turning ‘a short film into a full-length feature’. At least she’s aware of the drama, although perhaps not her role in creating it. Instead of moving on, she avoids her emotions by channelling them into anger. The sound of the song reflects this as well, which is most interesting when it transitions to soft piano at the end. Beneath all the anger and aggression is hurt, and she is addicted to keeping it at bay.
Loneliness in Numbers
As someone who identifies as asexual, I am constantly seeking platonic interpretations of romantic songs, partly because it helps relatability, but also because it’s a topic that’s severely lacking. Loneliness in Numbers isn’t explicitly romantic nor platonic, but the relationship is toxic, nonetheless. Some friendships revolve around company rather than a mutual understanding of each other, which is definitely the case for this one. It’s very surface level, avoiding anything serious like ‘bad news’, opting instead for self-destruction as a shield. However, that mindset gives them the strength to fight for the ‘revolution’; fighting for a cause when you can’t fight for yourself. Her desire to ‘look good for the nuclear blast’ appears superficial at first, but it’s also focusing on what you can control rather than fearing what you can’t. Perhaps the current state of the world and its politics are the ‘bad news’ they’re avoiding, and turning to vain humour is a way of coping. It reminds me of a quote from The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde: ‘to become a spectator of one’s life is to eliminate its suffering’. It’s one of my favourites, although I don’t recommend implementing it to this extent. As the title suggests, this carefree lifestyle is one that ends alone.
Losing Streak
I LOVE when the music of a song mirrors its lyrics, and this is something Avery is brilliant at. Losing Streak dictates an on-and-off-again relationship, which feels very right person, wrong time. The opening instrumentals pause as she begins singing, and then start up again, stopping and starting just like the relationship. The root of their problems is implied in the chorus with mention of the antidepressant ‘sertraline’ and again in the pre-chorus with ‘shell shock shot in the dark’. They’re clearly struggling with their mental health, possibly past trauma as well, which makes them unable to fully commit to another person. It’s a difficult subject, but the song is so catchy it’s even more difficult to realise that. The lyric ‘flash flood, freak show, fever dream’ scratches my brain in all the right ways. It sounds so good, you forget what it’s really saying… rather like the relationship.
Sex, Etc.
Imagine dedicating your whole life to someone – changing everything about yourself, neglecting your relationships, abandoning your boundaries and morals – just for them to turn around and say they don’t want you. It’s a lesson, I suppose, in co-dependency. Never lose yourself in someone else because they just might leave you with nothing. The style of this song reminded me a lot of Chappell Roan with elements of theatre and drama. This is a frequent motif throughout Male Validation as Avery compares herself again to a ‘movie scene’, while ‘showing out, showing up, showing I’m forgetting you’ tells us what we already know: this is all nothing but a performance.
Male Validation and Other Drugs
As the titular track, I had high expectations and, suffice to say, they were met. There was an almost robotic quality to her voice, which I really liked as a contrast to the rest of the album. It’s deeply insecure with all of her previous theatrics stripped away. For the whole album, she’s been acting and hiding behind different personas, but ‘you asked me to be honest’ so now she’s open and vulnerable. However, as is so often the case, it’s not as palatable, but that’s what’s so great. Avery confesses to putting herself in competition with other women, having sex to feel good about herself, and basing her self-worth on the opinions of men. It’s everything feminism rejects, yet there’s a truth to it that rings in all of us. At least she’s brave enough to admit it.
Shapeshifting on a Saturday Night
This song is about to be my personality for the next six months (which is ironic considering it subject matter). It’s so catchy. Such an earworm. Such a banger. Upbeat songs with downbeat lyrics are a personal favourite of mine, so it’s no surprise this is what I consider the album’s peak. ‘Everyone wants her and nobody knows her’ is such a gut-wrenching lyric when you think of the implications. The objective of people pleasing is to make yourself likeable, but at the end of the day, if nobody likes the real you, what’s it all for? The idea of distinguishing your past and present selves as a way of distancing the hate you feel is sickening but also exposing. Avery isn’t trying to present this behaviour as something to aspire towards, but talking about it is enlightening to those who relate and even to those who don’t. ‘Love her ‘til you hate her ‘cause she’s sick in the head’ is another line I’m going to relate back to asexuality (even though synonymising my sexuality with mental illness is definitely not the healthiest mindset) and one I’ll be dwelling on late at night.
Oh, Mercy!
The acoustic guitar is immediately something different. After embracing honesty in Male Validation and Other Drugs (the song, not the album), we finally get a glimpse of the real Avery. There’s a reference to Griever and the dilemma of Loneliness in Numbers, rounding off the album as a full circle experience. I’d be confidant calling Oh, Mercy! the strongest lyrically for its political fearlessness. It has some really great phrases – ‘bodies burn for his net worth’, ‘all my pain is patriarchal’, ‘turns out stolen land is lawless’ – that inspire you to start thinking if you haven’t already. It’s a really strong conclusion to a really strong album. If this is the real Avery Cochrane, I cannot wait to hear more.
To answer my question from before – yes, Male Validation and Other Drugs is every bit as intoxicating as it sounds, and you can listen to it now!