Feisty Fifer Nati first made an online splash during lockdown with TikTok renditions of traditional Scottish tunes and a smattering of originals. Shortly after, she charmed the masses in real life at TRNSMT and with her debut EP Older, a broadly themed suite on growing up and facing your thirties. Now she contemplates new beginnings and fresh viewpoints on follow-up EP, Golden, galloping out the traps with ‘Heard It All Before’, a beefy Scotpop number in the Saint Phnx/Nathan Evans vein with big licks and Celtic flourishes. Fired up by scorn and bitter experience, she offers grim determination and lusty vocals, testing her tone at points, travelling from mischief to softness in the space of a line before returning to her signature hearty hollering.

The rest of the EP is also characterised by strong pop tunes dressed in rockier robes. On ‘When I Find Her’, co-written with Vistas’ frontman Prentice Robertson, she embarks on a search for self, fuelled by independent spirit, grungy backing and a bubblegum middle-eight breakdown. Meanwhile the carefree Katy Perry scurry of the title track flaunts its commercial country-pop mastery with a feelgood rush, a brief pause for breath on the bridge and then a second giddy wind. No wonder she’s giggling by the end.

‘This Town’ is familiar territory no matter where you’re from. This choppy cheerleader celebration of hometown roots is powered by the positive outlook of many a country-pop banger, but there is some ambivalence in the line ‘give me real life’, implying an appreciation of feeling grounded by your environment while also straining at the leash for fresh experiences. Closing track ‘Midnight’ dials it back with a breathy vocal but Nati’s natural extroversion pushes through as the song builds to the beat of a marshal rhythm and ends on a suitably rousing note.

Golden is released by OMG Music on Friday 21 March.