passengerprincess's PUPPYLUV!!! reminds me that love fucking rocks

 

My roommate was annoying me the other day, talking to me about how fall is a time of change and reflection and those two things can be uncomfortable and create tension. I am not sure. He is one of those types that reads his horoscope and talks about the upcoming “wolf moon” like it's an omen of challenges ahead. He measures twice before starting over to measure twice again.

Anyway, he’s not a fall person but I am, and while I don’t always agree with his ruminations, I can understand his point at times. Fall is about change and reflection, and I sure have been doing a lot of the latter.

I have been thinking about relationships of my past, and about love, and about how it all plays into my life. I was just at a convention in the LA area (don’t tell my friends from LA that I called it the LA area), and I got to spend time with friends I love and adore. I got to party, I got to drink, I got to DJ, and I got to be close to people. I got to kiss.

I often joke with my friend Kenzie about those moments that “make you feel infinite,” a joking reference to The Perks of Being a Wallflower. This was my second time DJing a party, and I was having a great time. I felt like I was in my element, enjoying myself and creating a vibe for everyone else. The kiss was special, too. I was a little drunk and had to be reminded about it, but I remembered afterward, and it made me happy. Special, intimate moments feel good.

After partying until sunrise, I made my way back to the hotel, grabbed some free continental breakfast, and told my con roommate Kenzie how in love I was with my friends. I was so infatuated with the people in my life and so happy to know all of them. I remember less of that conversation than I probably should, but the feeling stuck with me.

All of it made me nostalgic for love and being in love. There is something special about it. You feel warm and cold at the same time. There is a contradiction in feeling the happiest you have ever felt in your life while also being so scared that something is going to come along and take it all away. And as the world changes into its colder months, I have been considering what change is coming for me.

Then PUPPYLUV!!!, the new album from Los Angeles-based electronic duo passengerprincess, dropped and hit me straight in the heart.

Made up of Neanderthal and lizzy's personal army, passengerprincess makes high-energy electronic music that pulls from hyperpop, dance music, and the furry communities. Their self-titled debut album came out in 2025, and PUPPYLUV!!! follows it with another collection of songs that are unapologetically furry, sentimental, and very interested in what it feels like to love someone.

The album is just so pure. Love can be scary. It can make you feel vulnerable, uncertain, and painfully aware of yourself. But PUPPYLUV!!! is about cutting out the cold. It's pure warmth, pure yearning for that warmth, and the overwhelming excitement of getting to feel it in the first place.

I knew I was hooked when “Airplane Dragons,” the second song on the album, dropped before its release. I knew passengerprincess had another generational run on their hands. There is something so pure and catchy about the chorus. It is downright infectious to chat “I love I love I love, being your little pup” and every time I have been given control of the music, this has been a song I put on.

It's the definition of puppy love, right? I mean beside the being young part, its about being so in love with someone that the whole world seems to be reacting to it. Nothing feels the same anymore because you're in love with this very special person. Everything is a little different, a little brighter, and suddenly you have a song you can't stop singing about being someone's little pup. Fuck yeah dude. 

The album opener, “Everlasting,” sets the scene perfectly. It's about falling in love with the perfect person and how really, really, really, really amazing it makes you feel. The vocals on this one are fantastic. I especially love the echo after “in my life.” It's such a small touch, but it makes the moment stand out. It shows that extra bit of care in the production, and you can hear the fun the duo had putting the song together.

But “Chance” is my favorite track on the entire album.

It's got furry references. It's got atmosphere. And it's got that particular feeling of watching your crush try to hook up with someone else at a convention and realizing that, actually, you want to be more than just con roomies.

I know what it feels like to have that burning little bit of jealousy flare up. I also know what it feels like to have feelings for someone that you can't really talk about. You just have to sit there with them, watching things happen around you, trying to figure out what the hell you're supposed to do with yourself. 

The drop captures that feeling, too. It's loud, disjointed, and full of dead space. It's jarring and catchy at the same time, with synths that echo the ones underscoring the album's more sentimental moments. That contrast makes it work so well. It's a weird feeling, being jealous of someone you want to be with, and the drop sounds just as weird in the best possible way. It's also great to dance to.

Of course, the album isn't only about yearning for someone to love you. Sometimes it's about feeling good, looking good, knowing you look good, and taking your shot. “Dog Show” is about looking hot, finding someone else who looks hot, and linking up. And honestly, yeah I like that kind of love a lot too. Not every romantic experience needs to be a complicated emotional journey. Sometimes you look good, someone else looks good, and things work out.

Then there's “What Do I Say?,” featuring r u s s e l b u c k. The song is a departure from the love imagery of the rest of the album and instead focuses on the niche internet popularity that passangerprincess (and also r u s s e l b u c k) have found themselves in. They grapple with the imposter syndrome of being looked up to, and how to interact with “fans.”

The track “Golden Retriever” decided to call me out, too. Yeah I have a bit of a problem being a people pleaser and yeah I know that that doesn't always work out for me. But these songs decided to gentle parent me into being more aware of it, and it did a great job of it, too. 

The song does have some of the corniest lyrics on the album. It includes the lines “Life faked a throw and has your toy behind its back / And now you're looking all around.” That is such a funny way to describe something like this. It's a goofy image, but it gets at that feeling of being led around by something you want, always looking for the next sign that things are going to work out. And while it is a little corny, I still adore it because, well, fuck it, yeah, I am a dog.

The first track previewed off the album was “Headless Lounge,” an unapologetically furry love experience that even my normie brother called a “banger.”

For those who don't know, a headless lounge is a space at a furry convention where fursuiters can take off their heads and relax. No one outside of furry is ever going to get the reference, and using it as a metaphor for wanting to discover someone's deeper personality is genius. There's something whimsical and silly about falling for someone's fursona before you get to know the person underneath, but the song uses that idea to explore a very real part of falling in love. You want to see more of someone. You want to learn everything about them. You want to get deeper.

The song also features a wonderful second-act breakdown that gets me pumped up and reminds me of the great early-2000s pop aesthetic that's all over passengerprincess's sound. There's a real sense of playfulness to the whole thing, but it never feels like the duo are making fun of the feelings at the center of it. 

That sincerity is what makes PUPPYLUV!!! work so well as a whole. passengerprincess's music is high-energy, sentimental, and unapologetically laced with a sincere love of music, furry culture, and the communities surrounding it. You can tell they are in it. 

I was also relieved to find that the album has plenty of musical variety. When “Everlasting” came out ahead of the album, I worried that the project might be too same-y.  

At first, “Everlasting” felt very similar to “Airplane Dragons” to me and this album was coming out so quickly after their first. That record, their self-titled one, had a diverse sound, and I wasn't sure how passengerprincess would follow it up so quickly. I was worried about the sophomore slump.

But after listening to the full album, I started to appreciate their opposing strengths. Sure, they're similar in a lot of ways. They're love songs made by the same duo, after all. But the album as a whole has a diverse track list, just like their first album.

Whether it's drawing from Jersey club, piano house, or hardstyle, the production stays cohesive without everything sounding the same. The riffs are catchy, the beats are danceable, and the whole thing makes you want to bounce around. Everything sounds like passengerprincess, but it doesn't feel so similar that it gets boring. There's a clear identity here, but the duo aren't afraid to play around within it.

I've spent a lot of time lately thinking about love, about the relationships I've had, and about how long it's been since I've been in one. It's easy to get caught up in nostalgia, to sit around thinking about the past and wondering when those feelings might come back. But PUPPYLUV!!! doesn't make me want to wallow in that feeling. It makes me excited.

I'm excited for the next time I get to sing these songs and think about someone wholeheartedly. I'm excited for the next crush, the next kiss, the next time I get to feel that ridiculous warmth of being in love with someone and wanting to know everything about them. 

And yeah, the world is changing right now and I am not in a relationship at the moment. 

But I know this album will be there for me when it does happen. Love fucking rocks. I'm happy I've gotten to experience it, and I'm excited to do it again.