SINGLE REVIEW: Willie Dowling – I Killed My Imaginary Friend

Willie Dowling isn’t new to crafting the eccentric, and ‘I Killed My Imaginary Friend’ is no exception—it’s a theatrical, uptempo swirl of piano-led pop with a sinister wink under the surface. From the off, the track fizzes with jittery energy. Bright, skipping piano lines set the pace, dancing in tightly wound loops like something lifted from a lost 70s musical number, while Dowling’s vocals throw back to 50s rock ’n’ roll showmanship—elastic, expressive, and full of character. There’s a confidence to the delivery, but also a playfulness that stops it ever tipping into parody.

Lyrically, it’s sharp and tongue-in-cheek. That imaginary friend isn’t just some childhood relic—it’s a metaphor for the inner critic that knows you too well and won’t shut up. Rather than tackle it with anguish, Dowling leans into something more wry and theatrical, flipping the usual ‘mental health song’ tropes into a story that’s as entertaining as it is clever. It’s a fresh way to explore those intrusive voices we all know too well—rendering them in Technicolor rather than grayscale. The idea of killing off that inner presence becomes both cathartic and oddly celebratory.

The song doesn’t coast on its concept either. There’s a real sense of craft in the arrangement. When the pace slows, it doesn’t lose momentum—it stretches into something almost psychedelic, with a swirl of softness that adds texture before it kicks back into its glittering stride. These tempo shifts help it avoid the sugar crash so many upbeat tracks suffer from. Instead, it plays with emotional contrast: theatre and vulnerability, energy and unease. Think Elton John in his more unpredictable moments—flamboyant, yes, but willing to take risks and pull things into unexpected territory.

There’s something deeply nostalgic here, not just in sound but in spirit. It feels like a track that belongs to another era but still finds room to say something new. Dowling never lets the production get overblown—it’s tight, purposeful, with every instrument right on the edge of bursting out of the speakers but reined in just enough. ‘I Killed My Imaginary Friend’ may sound playful on the surface, but it’s a smart, layered piece of songwriting that turns internal chaos into something you can dance to.