Pretty Windows' Is This Normal Behaviour? is It...?

Released in late May 2025, Pretty Windows—a Nottingham duo—created a brilliant blend of electro-pop and indie-rock music, born from lockdown introspection. The album revisits new‑wave nostalgia while keeping things fresh and emotionally resonant.

New Order meets Human League: The synth layers and programmed drums evoke mid‑80s grandeur, while the airy backing vocals recall Human League’s emotive choruses

Nostalgia with an edge: Tracks like "Zimmerman Standing", "Starsky and Hutch", and "1977" meld nostalgia with fragility—deepening rather than flattening their sound.

The Nottingham Duo told us this album feels like "the culmination of a life well lived, both good and bad", saying it "feels like everything songwriting was ever supposed to feel like".

I've decided to review a few of the 8 tracks in this album to give you an idea of the sound and style youre going to get with the entire album. Have a listen to it as you read:

“Zimmerman Standing”

This track works extremely well as a standout single, gaining traction before the rest of the album was released. The title may hint at Bob Dylan (née Zimmerman), but the song feels closer to a lament for stillness. Over ghostly pads and the pulsing synth baseline, the lyrics ache with neglect and delayed momentum -- like falling or trying to run in a dream.

“Twelve Pink Plectrums”

Perhaps the emotional core of the album; this track is anchored in minimalist piano and analogue hiss, it deals with creative frustration and lost time. The title’s specificity gives it a diaristic weight—this is not generic bedroom-pop, but lived-in and precise. This track follows the feeling of the best day of Bassist Nick Hutchinson's life; when his dad took him to get his first bass guitar! As a musician myself, i know its true that those memories stay with you forever.

“1977”

The closing track on the album, and the most overtly nostalgic piece. A slow-building ballad that invokes punk’s birth year but seems to steer away from usual punk style. Instead, it’s a melancholic synth elegy—looking back at a mythic past that one can only yearn for and look back on. The meaning and inspiration behind this song is truly heartbreaking, but creates such a strong motif for this track. This track is shrewed in tragic, life-altering events; family deaths, the death of Elvis, and the struggle of watching loved ones struggle with addiction. While it has an upbeat baseline to it --and a fun, dance worthy synth line-- they bring you to realise the sadness of the track and how emotional events affect our everyday lives, even if its not normal behaviour..

Having been born out of the chaos that was lockdown some years back, Pretty windows have created and incredible album and even a stand alone track "Vinyl and Heck" that shows just how much fun and good can come out of a bad situation.

I really enjoyed listening to this new album: since i had not really listened to this blend of electro-pop/indie music before, it was a pleasant surprise to have enjoyed it as much as i did and i have now added it to my playlist, you should too!

download or buy the album on Spotify, Soundcloud or other platforms and follow their socials to hear more updates when they come!

Follow thier instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/thisisprettywindows/