Nick Hissom turns heartbreak into glitter-covered spectacle on his bold, camp new pop EP ‘Hot Boy Things.’ Our review
Nick Hissom doesn’t so much move on from heartbreak as throw it into a nightclub, cover it in glitter and make it dance. On Hot Boy Things, the UK-born American pop artist, also known as Hizzy, emerges from a highly publicised breakup with five tracks of unapologetic desire, theatrical excess and early-2000s pop escapism. But underneath the cowboys, choreography and breathy vocals, the EP is ultimately concerned with something more personal: figuring out who you are when you no longer have to accommodate somebody else’s expectations.
That makes Hot Boy Things a breakup record in the loosest possible sense. There is little wallowing here. Hissom instead treats the end of a relationship as permission to become bigger, louder and more deliberately provocative, transforming personal upheaval into a celebration of newly discovered freedom.
The title track establishes that philosophy immediately. ‘Hot Boy Things’ is glossy, physical synth-pop built around booming production and a knowingly excessive attitude. Its exploration of dating, desire and becoming a self-described “hot boy” could easily be dismissed as superficial, but Hissom’s definition of hotness has less to do with appearance than confidence. “Hotness is a state of mind” becomes the unofficial thesis for everything that follows.
There is an appealing absurdity to the presentation, too. Comparisons to a male Britney Spears and Magic Mike, complete with chair choreography, reveal an artist who understands that great pop can be ridiculous without becoming a joke. Hissom commits fully to the fantasy.
That commitment becomes even more explicit on ‘Sexify’. Inspired by the mechanical club propulsion of Benny Benassi’s ‘Satisfaction’, the track responds to unwanted objectification by exaggerating the very sexuality being scrutinised. Instead of rejecting the attention, Hissom attempts to seize control of it.
It’s a clever reversal, particularly given his frustration with what he perceives as different standards applied to openly gay sexuality. With a previous video reportedly removed from YouTube and ‘Sexify’ itself climbing to #10 on the Music Week UK Club Chart, Hissom appears increasingly comfortable turning controversy into part of the performance.
Then there is ‘Yeehaw’, perhaps the EP’s most gleefully camp moment. Hissom’s description of his sound as “classy, with a little yeehaw” becomes wonderfully literal as Texan family roots collide with electronic pop, cowboy imagery and unabashed sexual theatre.
Its visual world, mechanical bulls, desert fashion and a gender-flipped nod to Paris Hilton’s infamous mid-2000s car wash commercial, captures what Hissom does particularly well throughout this project. He borrows recognisable symbols from pop culture and masculinity, then rearranges them according to his own desires. Cowboys aren’t being deconstructed through an academic exercise here; they’re simply being made considerably gayer.
For all that spectacle, ‘Amazing‘ may ultimately reveal more about Hissom than the project’s louder moments. The track pulls away from provocation and settles into something dreamier and more intimate, allowing his vocal character and singer-songwriter instincts greater space.
Its placement matters. By the time ‘Amazing’ arrives, Hot Boy Things has established such a deliberately sexual persona that the sudden softness feels almost more revealing than taking another layer of clothing off. Hissom is clearly comfortable using sexuality as part of his artistry, but the song demonstrates that it isn’t the entirety of it.
Closing track ‘Dangerous (Get Locked)’ provides another shift, replacing fantasy with determination. Here, the focus turns towards the less glamorous realities of trying to build a career while your personal life and public image threaten to become the dominant conversation. Hissom’s answer is straightforward: return to the work.
That gives Hot Boy Things more structure than its hedonistic exterior initially suggests. Across five tracks, Hissom gradually converts things that could have diminished him into sources of momentum. A breakup becomes independence. Objectification becomes sexual agency. Criticism becomes motivation. Even vulnerability becomes another expression of confidence rather than its opposite.
Musically, Hissom makes no attempt to hide his affection for pop’s most extravagant instincts. Britney Spears, Michael Jackson and Daft Punk loom over a sound that mixes early-2000s European dance-pop with contemporary American club production. Synths boom, drums demand movement and subtlety is generally left waiting outside.
That’s exactly where it belongs. Hot Boy Things isn’t designed for tasteful restraint. It wants choreography, costumes, sweat and people talking about it afterwards.
The result is an EP that understands provocation works best when there is something underneath it. Sex may get the attention, but self-determination gives these five tracks their purpose. Hissom isn’t merely demanding the freedom to be provocative; he’s exploring what happens when he stops allowing other people’s discomfort to determine how much of himself he reveals.
Hot Boy Things is therefore less a reinvention than an act of permission. Nick Hissom gives himself permission to be sexual, vulnerable, ambitious and occasionally gloriously over-the-top, all within five tracks. Heartbreak might have started this chapter, but it certainly doesn’t define it. By the end, the message is considerably simpler: Hizzy is single, liberated and ready to make a spectacle of himself, and pop is more fun when somebody is willing to do exactly that.
