SINGLE IN FOCUS

The track hovers around Gia’s vocal and lyric yet capitalises on the semi-spook of guitar twangs, riffs, and the leisurely creep of oscillating rhythms. The chorus is textured with augmented vocal layers that add a heightened sense of dramatic flair.

The guitar stabs throughout are also worth noting, punctuating the song as though signposting an emotional pulse we cannot avoid.

But it is the dynamic crescendo unfolding with surprising force after

Gia Ransome Boots

Gia Ransome began her artistic journey as a solitary musician, a singer–songwriter who travelled from the shores of Australia to the distant corners of Europe and beyond. Her voice resonated through the streets of London, Manchester, Copenhagen, Berlin, and even the quaint confines of a border town in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In 2020, she triumphed at the Voyager International Songwriting Competition, capturing the hearts of the jury with her song Belladonna , performed in the company of the Israeli Dutch collective Zenith Duo.

Gia transcended her acoustic origins the following year and embraced the smoky, subterranean allure of bluesinfused dive-bar rock. In this newfound incarnation, she is joined by the talents of guitarist Ethan McAlister, drummer Daniel Simmons, and bassist Nic Johnson, forging an ensemble of singular harmony and artistic depth.

Boots is a slow-burning track, suffused with nocturnal pathos and an alluring intimacy that’s difficult to resist.

Utilising her wide vocal range, Gia takes the listener on quite the trip, a landscape perhaps emblematic of what has been described as a harmonious union of the poetic spirit of Nick Cave and the sultry, melancholic allure of Lana Del Rey.

the second chorus that leaves the listener entirely at her mercy.

Gia’s blend of contemplative folk–pop–rock alchemy is quite disarming, and Boots manages to highlight an acute sense of musical sensibility whose reach is as inviting as it is sapient.

VINCE LEIGH

Palace, the latest release for singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Sam Sly, follows 2021 debut, Witness. Originally from the South Coast, now based in Canberra, Sam’s latest features many of the impressive aspects of her debut—robust melodic components, polished production, notable vocal performance—yet reaches for a stylistic difference.

The introductory guitar—drowsy, isolated, yet decidedly calming—also reveals the blues-tinged pulse of the track; a slow, smoky shuffle-like rhythm that serves the self-assured and seemingly effortlessly powered nuances of Sam’s voice. Almost old-school in approach, this intro soon reveals a more contemporary tint, mainly in the drum parts and sounds. The melodies ride in tandem with the groove, with a pre-chorus opening up Sam’s range and intoning a sweetness that contrasts intriguingly with the enigmatic consequences of the chorus’ recurring line:

‘I’m lost in the palace of my mind.’

This sentiment befits the dreamy sonic scape augmenting the track, the slow-burn trip via lush layers of vocal, ambient

Teen Jesus And The Jean Teasers Lights Out

Lights Out is the new track for the skyrocketing punk pop superstar foursome, and a preview of their highly anticipated forthcoming debut album.

Clocking in at just over three minutes, the band has yet again packed a bulldozing level of intensity and heat in a short span. From its lone guitar and vocal introduction to its fulminating blitzkrieg resolve, Lights Out will not disappoint the awaiting throngs desperate for the album—and will no doubt entice a legion of new devotees to their cause too.

So what do we have here lyric-wise? As the band’s PR blurb slash quote suggests: “Lights Out is a celebration of realising you’re hot and can empower yourself. The years between the ages of 18 and 22 are some of the most developmental years of a person’s life, and Lights Out describes these years.

“It’s about claiming your sexuality, confidence, and not caring what the drunk strangers in a Canberra nightclub will think of you.”

Indeed, who can argue with that? The track explodes in the ears with a depth and breadth of confidence that has seen the band washes and receding tones and effects, all becoming part of a chorus-like resolve at the song’s end.

The arrangement is a concise grouping of elements, with the chorus appearing only twice, though not to the detriment of the track’s overall impact.

A word about the chorus and its accented phrase, reinforcing that recurring line. It acts as a dramatic pause, holding the listener ransom for a few milliseconds before letting them fall alongside the remainder of the chorus.

Yes, the unexpected change does seem to add a sense of restraint to the preceding flow.

Still, it’s an ebb that suits the luring opacity of the track, arriving just as Sam’s vocal veers from intimacy to elevated soulfulness (ditto the accompanying soundtrack) all aspiring to the song’s rather grand and intoxicating finale.

VINCE LEIGH swiftly becoming the ‘it’ band, with recent single, Girl Sports, hitting #55 on the triple j Hottest 100, and track AHHHH! landing the #117 position on the Hottest 200. And, of course, they’ve been killing it at a bunch of summer festivals, and amassing praise from The Guardian, triple j, frankie, The AU Review, Music Feeds, The Music, and more.

As Guitar World magazine proclaimed: “They’ve got what it takes to lead the next generation of Australian rock royalty.” No argument there.

Lights Out kicks off in post-grunge style but soon transitions into a blend of high-octane rock, carefully laden with hooks that don’t cross the cliché line and a series of stirring performances, with Anna Ryan’s spirited vocal sounding as energetically authoritative as ever.

VINCE LEIGH