Album Review: RinRin – The Nut House (Year of the Rat Records)

RinRin, the musical project of Filipino-born and Australian-based singer-songwriter and guitarist Qarin Hipe, will release the much-anticipated debut album, ‘The Nut House’, on September 12th, 2025, via Year of the Rat Records.

I dig RinRin and what the very talented Qarin Hipe is creating under the name. Sure, modern alternative metal listeners will find themselves in familiar territory, but that doesn’t mean the multi-instrumentalist creative isn’t kicking a ton of ass with an album full of infectious, powerful, and exciting EDM-infused heavyweight efforts.

I think you’ll be able to make your mind up about if RinRin is an artist for you with the first couple of songs. Namely Killher and Built Diff. If you come away unimpressed by the former’s immense chorus and punchy riffs (I love her vocals) and the savage middle finger that is Built Diff, then you’re not likely to enjoy much else, but gawd-damn, you will be missing out. I enjoyed the hell out of these first two tracks, and I think most will too, but there’s so much to enjoy elsewhere too.

Take WASHED and SMOKEBOMB, the next two tracks. The former is fast, frantic, furious, and downright feral, from both an instrumental and vocal perspective. Whereas the latter is slower, more melody focused, and with soaring vocals. They’re different, but they fit the wider RinRin picture, and both come with choruses you can move and sing along too. As likable as everything else, and then some.

With a certain amount of swagger, but also a willingness to open up, RinRin continues to show catchy depth with This Is Not the Time. Before we get one of the album’s most vigorous efforts with Gunmetal Black (I love her roars in the chorus here) and I Wanna Know ups the electronica to the point that it has a detrimental effect on the vocals. It’s one aspect of the album I don’t understand. RinRin’s voice is immense, why ruin it with effects? This is one track I just can’t get on with, unfortunately.

Thankfully, I can get on with CORNDOG! though, which is fun, a bit silly, and with power (great use of chiptunes too). I can also get on with FOB, all thanks to the lyrics. RinRin really does have buckets and buckets of talent.

There’s another small lull here though, but I suspect a lot of tracks would struggle to follow something as good as FOB. Even then Hard Stuck just doesn’t have a hook, even if it is a totally solid alternative banger none the less. By contrast too, Evil Bitch Blood is one of the album’s most anthemic efforts of all. Featuring cool sounding synth, a blend of fiery heaviness and potent catchy rockiness, and great lyrics. Then there is sad emoji, and a pop ballad with a cinematic twist, if you can believe that.

Of course you can though, after all, this is RinRin’s music and if there’s anything that everyone can take away from this debut, it’s that the artist is one hell of a creative force. Watch out world, RinRin has arrived.

RinRin – The Nut House Track Listing:

1. Killher
2. Built Diff
3. WASHED
4. SMOKEBOMB
5. This Is Not the Time
6. Gunmetal Black
7. I Wanna Know
8. CORNDOG!
9. FOB
10. Hard Stuck
11. Evil Bitch Blood
12. sad emoji

Links

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