{{Short description|Electronic dance music album by Vylet Pony}} {{Use American English|date=September 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=September 2025}} {{DISPLAYTITLE:''Love & Ponystep''}} {{Infobox album | name = Love & Ponystep | type = studio | artist = Vylet Pony | cover = Love & Ponystep Cover.png | alt = | released = {{Start date|2025|07|11}} | recorded = | studio = | genre = * [[Electronic dance music]] * [[brostep]] * [[electropop]] * [[brony music]] <!-- genres listed here are sourced in the article text --> | length = 1:35:38 | label = Horse Friends Music / 32.7 The Creek | producer = Vylet Pony | chronology = Vylet Pony | prev_title = Monarch of Monsters | prev_year = 2024 | next_title = Gonarch's Lair | next_year = 2026 | misc = {{Singles | name = Love & Ponystep | type = studio | single1 = My Love is a Quickscope | single1date = {{Start date|2025|06|26}} | single2 = Webpunk | single2date = {{Start date|2025|07|3}} }} }}
{{My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic sidebar}}
'''''Love & Ponystep''''' is the twenty-first [[studio album]] by American [[electronic music]]ian '''Vylet Pony''' (Zelda Trixie Lulamoon), self-released on July 11, 2025 by Lulamoon under her [[independent record label|independent]] [[vanity label]] Horse Friends Music / 32.7 The Creek.<ref name="pitchfork"/> It was inspired heavily by [[electronic dance music]], [[brostep]], and [[electropop]], including extensive sampling from [[video game]]s and internet media from the 2010s. The album explores themes of [[Internet culture]], [[criticism of copyright]], and [[self-acceptance]] within an allegorical story mirroring the experience of Lulamoon to ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic|My Little Pony]]''-inspired [[original character]]s (also known as ''[[ponysona]]s'').<ref name="pitchfork"/><ref name="ringtone"/>
== Background and composition == The album's title references ''ponystep'', a [[bronyspeak]] term that originated in the early years of the [[brony fandom]] that described a [[brony music]] [[subgenre]] that combined [[dubstep]] with ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic|My Little Pony]]'' content.<ref name="dailydot ponymusic">{{cite news | url = http://www.dailydot.com/entertainment/music-brony-friendship-is-magic-my-little-pony/ | title = For brony musicians, 'Friendship Is Magic' serves as muse | work = [[The Daily Dot]] | first = Lauren Rae | last = Orsini | date = 2012-04-21 | access-date = 2025-08-29 | archive-date = January 4, 2014 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140104233304/http://www.dailydot.com/entertainment/music-brony-friendship-is-magic-my-little-pony/ | url-status = live }}</ref> Following the [[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic finale|conclusion of ''Friendship Is Magic'' in 2019]], brony music evolved from remixes of episodes to songs that often have minimal direct references to the show, with some brony musicians using the fandom primarily as a creative outlet rather than drawing directly from show content.
''Love & Ponystep'' was conceived in 2023, with Lulamoon's interest in 2010s EDM artists being reciprocated through meeting fellow musician Tracey Brakes, and subsequent research of techniques and samples from pioneering EDM musicians such as [[Skrillex]] and [[Savant (musician)|Savant]] resulted in ''Girls Who Are Wizards'', an album Lulamoon describes as "an initial test of strength for these ideas". Brakes is credited in the album for production in the title track, and is included in the special thanks for their friendship and inspiration.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Lulamoon |first=Zelda Trixie |url=https://static.wikitide.net/vyletponywiki/6/67/Love_%26_Ponystep_Lyrics_Booklet.pdf |title=Love & Ponystep Lyrics Booklet |date= |year=2025 |archive-date=September 8, 2025 |access-date=September 3, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250908071420/https://static.wikitide.net/vyletponywiki/6/67/Love_%26_Ponystep_Lyrics_Booklet.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>
''Love & Ponystep'' was partly inspired by Lulamoon's personal experiences with a [[breakup]].<ref name="pitchfork">{{cite web|last=Press-Reynolds|first=Kieran|url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/vylet-pony-love-and-ponystep/|title=Vylet Pony: Love & Ponystep Album Review|website=[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]]|date=2025-08-11|access-date=2025-08-29|archive-date=August 13, 2025|archive-url=https://archive.today/20250813170952/https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/vylet-pony-love-and-ponystep/|url-status=live}}</ref> The album follows the story of two [[winged unicorn|alicorn]] characters from Lulamoon's "Wayfarer" universe, an alternative universe based upon the ''Friendship Is Magic'' continuity:<ref>{{Cite tweet |user=VyletPony |number=1944259426346840451 |title=it is with this conclusion that i want to say that the vylet pony lore and stories will be under a new title that encapsulates everything. from monarch to mystic acoustics to fish whisperer. it is called:"Wayfarer; or, The Galactic Legacy of All Creatures"}}</ref> Top Five Videos (a [[lesbian]] alicorn [[YouTube]] host) and Dubstep Growl (a nonverbal, purple alicorn [[DJ]]), tracking their breakup and eventual reunion.<ref name="pitchfork" />
The album features narration segments from Lenval Brown, most known for his narration and voice work on the video games ''[[Disco Elysium]]'' and ''[[Ultrakill]]'', as "Lodestar", a realization of Top Five Videos' subconscious<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-07-13 |title=File:Love & Ponystep Story Booklet.pdf |url=https://vylet.wiki/File:Love_%26_Ponystep_Story_Booklet.pdf |access-date=2025-09-01 |website=Vylet Pony Wiki |language=en |archive-date=September 8, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250908210141/https://vylet.wiki/File:Love_%26_Ponystep_Story_Booklet.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> that provides spoken word segments throughout the album. During a ''Disco Elysium'' livestream from Lulamoon in early 2025, viewers encouraged her to reach out to Brown for his vocal qualities, and Brown accepted the correspondence. Brown is credited in the album's special thanks for his "incredible performance and open mind".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Love & Ponystep, by Vylet Pony |url=https://vyletpony.bandcamp.com/album/love-ponystep |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250828225424/https://vyletpony.bandcamp.com/album/love-ponystep |archive-date=August 28, 2025 |access-date=2025-09-01 |website=Vylet Pony |language=en |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":0" />
Lulamoon also described the album as an attempt to reclaim traditionally masculine interests, stating: "I was also always a ''[[Call of Duty]]'' fan, for better and for worse; and as a [[trans woman]], it's always felt weird to embrace that out of fear of leaning into some sort of traditionally masculine interest. So I wanted to see how gay and feminine I could take that shit."<ref name="ringtone">{{cite web|last=Zollner|first=Amelia|url=https://www.ringtonemag.com/articles/vylet-pony-lands-a-really-sick-trickshot-on-love-ponystep|title=Vylet Pony Lands a Really Sick Trickshot on Love & Ponystep|website=Ringtone Mag|date=2025-07-11|access-date=2025-08-29}}</ref> The album heavily samples ''[[Call of Duty: Black Ops II]]'' throughout its 95-minute runtime and pays homage to [[Skrillex]], particularly interpolating his remix of [[Benny Benassi]]'s "[[Cinema (Benny Benassi song)|Cinema]]" in the title track.<ref name="pitchfork"/>
== Themes == Continuing thematically from Lulamoon's previous album, ''Monarch of Monsters'', which deals with finding self-love through inward trauma, ''Love & Ponystep'' views the relationship and breakup of the main characters, Top Five Videos and Dubstep Growl, as an allegory for Lulamoon's own experiences with [[Broken heart|heartbreak]] and her subsequent pursuit for self-improvement.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hHVXj4JPzc |title=【Trailer】LOVE&PONYSTEP |date=2025-06-25 |last=Vylet Pony |access-date=2025-09-08 |via=YouTube}}</ref>
Within the songs, the album addresses themes of [[internet culture]], [[piracy]], and [[criticisms of corporations]].<ref name="greenleft">{{cite web|last=Ward|first=Mat|url=https://www.greenleft.org.au/content/you-need-hear-these-10-radical-new-albums|title=You need to hear these 10 radical new albums|website=[[Green Left (Australian newspaper)|Green Left]]|date=2025-08-29|access-date=2025-08-29|archive-date=August 28, 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250828225237/https://www.greenleft.org.au/content/you-need-hear-these-10-radical-new-albums|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- write abt how it continues monarch of monsters' themes of self discovery/self love through the lens of outward relationships as opposed to inward traumas/problems of the self. in an overarching sense, the album is about self indulgence, repairing and managing relationships, and how ppls relationship & personality dynamics affect each other (and of course self love and care :3). the lens of it being about internet culture is there primarily to forward these themes, as vylet grew up online (but is still valid as a theme!) -->
== Reception== The album received positive reviews from critics. ''[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]]'' awarded it a score of 7.8 out of 10, with reviewer Kieran Press-Reynolds calling it "so clever and so admirably unhinged" and praising its "anything-goes experiments that urge listeners to be kind and live their truest lives."<ref name="pitchfork"/> ''Ringtone Mag'' described it as "a beautiful love letter to being yourself, weird interests and all" and noted its celebration of 2010s internet culture.<ref name="ringtone"/> Australian newspaper ''[[Green Left (Australian newspaper)|Green Left]]'' included the album in its monthly list of the top 10 [[protest music]] of August 2025.<ref name="greenleft"/>
==Track listing== {{Track listing | all_writing = | all_music = | headline = Digital release | title1 = Angel with a Longshot (Courier Overture) | note1 = ft. Jedwill | length1 = 4:54 | title2 = Ch 1: SVU-AS (Heartbreak Intro) | note2 = ft. Lenval Brown | length2 = 1:21 | title3 = My Love is a Quickscope | length3 = 3:47 | title4 = Dual Headed Hydranoid | note4 = ft. Namii & SadisticTushi | length4 = 3:08 | title5 = Worst rave EVER | length5 = 3:34 | title6 = Falling in Love With a Corporate Illustration | length6 = 8:44 | title7 = Wonka X Howl | length7 = 4:13 | title8 = Ch 2: XPR-50 (It's All About the Game) | note8 = ft. Lenval Brown | length8 = 2:24 | title9 = Webpunk | note9 = ft. NekoSnicker | length9 = 3:58 | title10 = Peace, Love, Glalie (And, in 2009, Somebody Stole My Ancient Mew Card) | note10 = ft. Shelly the Android Lobster | length10 = 3:52 | title11 = The Slow Dance | length11 = 5:25 | title12 = Comet Catcher and the Reek Fish | length12 = 5:07 | title13 = Lightning Bolt | length13 = 4:10 | title14 = Ch 3: Ballista (Dear Aria, I Love Myself) | note14 = ft. Lenval Brown | length14 = 3:09 | title15 = Walking Beside a Dragonfly | note15 = ft. Lunari Lotus | length15 = 8:28 | title16 = Jester | length16 = 4:54 | title17 = LiveLaughLove2 | note17 = ft. moesnail | length17 = 5:24 | title18 = A Digital Flower Field | length18 = 4:08 | title19 = Ch 4: DSR-50 (O' Laniakea, Quell Not The Love Which Overflows From Me) | note19 = ft. Lenval Brown | length19 = 1:07 | title20 = Love & Ponystep | note20 = ft. Tracey Brakes | length20 = 10:01 | title21 = Ghostie Dub (Here To Light This Up) | note21 = Outro/Bonus Track | length21 = 3:43 | total_length = 1:35:38 }}
== See also == * [[Music of the My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic fandom|Music of the ''My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic'' fandom]]
== References == {{reflist}}
== External links == * ''[https://vyletpony.bandcamp.com/album/love-ponystep Love & Ponystep]'' on [[Bandcamp]] * [https://vylet.wiki/File:Love_%26_Ponystep_Art_Booklet.pdf Art Booklet] * [https://vylet.wiki/File:Love_%26_Ponystep_Lyrics_Booklet.pdf Lyrics Booklet] * [https://vylet.wiki/File:Love_%26_Ponystep_Story_Booklet.pdf Story Booklet]
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[[Category:2025 albums]] [[Category:Brony music]] [[Category:Brony fandom]]