EDM is making a comeback and Australia’s own Ninajirachi is at the helm of it.
There are few albums in history that are as critically acclaimed as Ninajirachi’s 2025 debut album ‘I Love My Computer’. The album swept the Australian music award season and pushed her into the limelight, with festivals such as Coachella, Lollapalooza and most recently All Points East in London featuring packed out sets, a stark contrast to where she’d been just a year ago. The album is an ode to her computer and the internet, a dance album about growing up online and the isolation she felt in rural Australia. Ninajirachi started working on the album in 2023, finally feeling it was time and that she was in a place where she could make the album that showcased her as an artist, a writer and a producer. Though, the oldest stems on the album found in ‘Delete’ are originally from 2019. Aside from the obvious influences of artists like Skrillex and Porter Robinson, the album is also inspired by Aussie icons Kylie Minogue and The Veronicas.To accompany the release of the album was the ‘Dark Crystal V’ tour, a tour that Ninajirachi herself declared was a dream realised.
In spite of sudden fame and critical acclaim, Ninajirachi remains ever humble. As the tour was heading into its last few stops, Ninajirachi stopped outside the first of two sold out nights at Melbourne’s forum to individually thank fans for coming to the show, to chat, to hand out freebies and to even trade pokémon cards. Pokémon are referenced several times throughout her discography, notably in her track ‘iPod Touch’ with her ‘yellow pickachu case’, but her name also; a combination of her first name and her favourite pokémon jirachi. She didn’t stay long though, having to head back inside for the final preparations before the show.
The first of Ninajirachi’s openers was her friend and longtime collaborator, Daine. Much like Ninajirachi, Daine found herself more comfortable in online spaces during her adolescence, influenced by the online music community and running in the same circles as Ninajirachi. The Australian-Filipino grew up in Melbourne, this show being her largest show in her hometown. Only a few weeks prior to the show, Daine dropped ‘PQC’, the first single from her uocoming debut album. The song was widely received and put her on the radar of many outlets and music critics, even the Needle Drop’s Anthony Fantano sharing his anticipation of the upcoming album. Daine’s set was ovwhelmingly fun, blending pop and electronic music as she danced across the stage. She engaged with the crowd, talking about her friendship with Ninajirachi and even teasing new performing. Her stage persona was dramatic and edgy, gripping your attention.
Daine was a tough act to follow, and I found myself preferring her to the other opener, Lucy Bedroque. Their was a moment of technical difficulty, but as a whole I found their set underwhelming. At least to the degree it was built up to me while waiting in line. A couple of fans in line had caught Bedroque’s own show the night before and could not stop singing their praise. I went into their set expecting more. This isn’t to say it was bad, the crowd were incredible, opening up several mosh pits and the DJ’s were great at hyping the crowd up. Their was a lack of connection between Lucy Bedroque themselves and the crowd, there wasn’t a moment where they addressed or even looked at the crowd. The whole performance was spent with their head tilted skyward, the times that Bedroque did speak was purely to address their DJs. Occasionally, when they gave into the music, I saw glimpse of the artist that had been hyped up outside the venue. While I enjoyed the music and I had fun, the set was ultimately carried by the energy of the crowd and Lucy Bedroque’s DJs.
The last time Ninajirachi played the Forum she was opening for Mallrat. The crowd was buzzing with barely contained excitement, more than ready thanks to both Diane and Lucy Bedroque. As they waited Ninajirachi’s logo bounced around the screen, mimicking the old DVD screen, another homage to her love for technology. Waiting for the show to start did very much feel like my childhood and waiting in rapt anticipation for that logo to hit the corner of the screen. With the sudden dimming of the lights and the appearance of a strobe warning the tension in the building snapped, the crowd going wild. The screen and audio alternating between various references between the album, the tour and Ninajirachi herself.
“Jump!”
The lights went up and there she was center stage between her two DJ decks, that simple word all it took for the crowd to lose it as the pyro went up, launching right into her set.
Ninajirachi opened with ‘girl EDM’, the title track of her 2024 compilation album and a reference to an EDM festival she had played that same year where all the acts consisted of women. The song sets the scene perfectly of her success and the rising success of other women such as Underscores, Shygirl and MGNA CRRRTA, finally breaking into the EDM and hyper pop scene, a movement that started arguably with the universal recognition of Charli XCX’s 2024 culture shifting album ‘Brat’. It’s about seizing that opportunity and fighting to be seen and that’s exactly what Ninajirachi has done.
Following on from ‘girl EDM’ was ‘London Song’, the opening track to ‘I Love My Computer’. Watching Ninajirachi flawlessly transition between songs was incredible, never pausing for applause, just playing and remixing track after track, constantly building momentum. Her visuals made by the talented Aria Z are also amazing. Aria Z also was the creator of the music video for ‘Infohazard’. They were so thoughtful, owing to them being longtime collaborators, many times I wished I could pause the show just to dissect the references nestled within them. The crowd and herself also became part of the show and the story she wanted to tell about technology, a bluetooth camera rig operated by y2dj0sh, intermittently rushing past her and the crowd, capturing the moment and playing it back in real time. Ninajirachi is one of the most dedicated storytellers out there, giving her shows fully over to the concepts and inspiration behind ‘I Love My Computer’
Several songs later, saw the reappance of Daine, the audience once more going insane. When the singer had been announced as Ninajirachi’s opener, everyone assumed that meant their collaboration ‘You’ would be on the setlist, but that didn’t make the moment any less exciting. The two are meant to work together, Daine’s voice melds so well to Ninajirachi’s electronic bass, but also outside of the studio with ‘Infohazard’ being written in part thanks to Daine. The final chorus saw Ninajirachi leaving her decks to work the crowd with Daine, asking the crowd if they were ‘ready to sing’, of course, the crowd was more than ready. The song was punctuated by strobing blue light and both women pointing at one another as the beat dropped.
On the topic of collaborations Ninajirachi teased two new songs back to back. The first being a play on her hit ‘Fuck My Computer’ with ‘I wanna fuck my new song’ and transitioning into a remix of Porter Robinson’s ‘Pinterest Perfect Garden’ that she and Underscores worked on together. Calling it “my new song” rather than treating it as just a cover had my suspicions raised. In the past few days it has come out that Underscores is working on a deluxe/ remix album to accompany her album ‘U’ that dropped earlier this year, rumours title it ‘After-U’. A remix like this would fit perfectly on a deluxe album. The second song was the then unreleased ‘WannaCry’ featuring Ninajirachi’s friend and idol, Porter Robinson. This was the first time the song was ever played… in Melbourne. The promo and single cover were all shot in Wollongong, the concept of EDM pioneer Porter Robinson being subjected to Wollongong is something I can’t quite wrap my head around. In fairness though, the outlook it was filmed at is gorgeous. Both Ninajirachi and Robinson changed their icons on several social media platforms and spotify to commemorate the release of ’WannaCry’, with the massive amount of promo and the Coachella debut of the song to kick off its campaign, it is not unlikely that something more is brewing.
Ninajirachi rolled through fan favourites and heavy hitters ‘All I Am’, ‘Delete’ and ‘Infohazard’ while also treating her more familiar fans to some of her deep cuts. The energy within the venue never shifting or diverting, it was massive. It’s been a long time since I’ve been in a crowd so intense. Intense, but not rough, the etiquette within the crowd was immaculate, from front to back. Even when Moshpits opened up or the beat dropped, I never felt as if I was, or in danger of, being crushed. There were no elbows to the face, or banging of heads as we headbanged. Even when Ninjirachi played ‘iPod Touch’ and ‘Fuck My Computer’ back to back and the entire Forum opened up, there was that same consideration.
That didn’t mean there weren’t any casualties. My hands were stained grey from the barrier and I had bruises on my knees too. The star chain belt that I had bought mere days ago split in two. All along the barricade were similar scenes. After the show a close friend messaged me to say that the shoes they had worn to the show had also split. These shoes had survived the entirety of Paramore’s 2023 Australia tour and a plethora of other concerts, but ultimately Ninajirachi had taken them out. Not a single person had been static in that venue and our casualties were an ode to how hard we went for Ninajirachi.
Of the shows I have seen, Ninajirachi’s was an all timer. Flying out from Sydney as I was unable to attend that show and buying inflated sketchy resale tickets from Viagogo -not that I recommend that- is sometimes very much worth it. I already had tickets to see Ninajirachi later this year, opening for Tame Impala, but my gut told me I’d regret not catching her in a smaller venue and it was absolutely right. It’s becoming a common theme now to conclude with how massive I think these artists are going to be, but I’m certain Ninajirachi might just change the world. As for Daine, she’s got a sold out Australian and North American tour coming up that I can’t wait to catch her at. I’m counting down the days until I can see Ninajirachi again with much excitement; at this point I’m more excited to see her than Tame Impala.
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