GEORGIA FIELDS SHARES NEW SINGLE ‘IN MY BLOOD’ + NEW ALBUM ‘HIRAETH’ DUE OUT NOVEMBER 17
Throbbing with an alluring undercurrent of hypnotic textures, the brand new track In My Blood from Naarm/ Melbourne art-pop alchemist Georgia Fields is a meditation on the wine-dark waters that lie between desire and compulsion. A corroded synth line flickers like a detuned radio, cutting Georgia’s singular grace with an unsettling sense of menace. Pulsing with warm and wondrous undulations, the tension throughout In My Blood’s intricate – yet ultimately restrained – production builds steadily towards a beautiful, almost joyous sense of release. Georgia’s distinctive vocal brings to mind the piercing, understated clarity of Metals-era Feist, and the shoulders-back power-stance of Sharon van Etten.
Officially dropping today, In My Blood is the fifth and final single from Georgia’s third full-length album Hiraeth, due Thursday November 17. Pronounced “hee-raith”, the album takes its title from a Welsh word with no direct translation, referring to a profound longing for a home you can’t return to as it no longer exists, a sense of nostalgia or grief for the lost places of your past. Fans can also catch Hiraeth live, with Georgia set to tour the album nationally – kicking off with a hometown show on Saturday November 19 at Brunswick Ballroom in Melbourne, before traversing Daylesford, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, Creswick, and then finishing up in regional Victoria at Theatre Royal in Castlemaine on Sunday December 18. Tickets are on sale now.
In My Blood arrives hot on the heels of Georgia’s previously released singles: Tigress, Persuasion, and Holding My Hands Out – each track offering a unique insight into the forthcoming album’s bold melodics, visceral arrangements, and intimate yet assured vocal delivery. In My Blood invites the listener into a world of sonic beauty, while also grappling with themes of addiction, trauma and recovery. Conceived against the backdrop of Melbourne’s claustrophobic lockdowns and the collective anxiety of the global pandemic, Georgia elaborates: “I wrote In My Blood during the 2020 lockdowns. A few months prior to the pandemic, I had been diagnosed with acute postnatal depression and anxiety which saw me struggle to leave the house. Trapped in my own home like a lost sparrow in a shopping mall, I returned to some, let’s say, not-so-healthy coping strategies. Drinking too much. Eating too little. Wanting to numb some sensations and make others painfully loud. I started to question these old habits. Is it nature? Is it nurture? Am I broken? Maybe it’s in my blood.”
Produced by Josh Barber, who has previously worked with the likes of Gotye and Gretta Ray, In My Blood is a riveting and raw journey, gloriously nuanced, showcasing Georgia’s razor-sharp songwriting craft as well as the symbiotic creative partnership between the pair, which spans the broader album. “Collaborating with Josh was a dream, because he brings a huge breadth of skills to the table. He’s a world-class drummer, a highly creative multi-instrumentalist, and a meticulous sound nerd. And like me, Josh has an appreciation for kooky sounds. We built the sonic world for In My Blood around the glitchy synth loop, incorporating live drums played with soft mallets, as well as a rusty old nylon string guitar, programmed beats, and a Juno HS60”, Georgia explains.
From stories of motherhood, infidelity, and death to rapturous anthems of healing and home – at its core, Hiraeth is an ode to the many languages of longing. Album opener Find Your Way Back depicts a childhood characterised by constant moving, where a sense of belonging is perpetually out of reach. Georgia’s percussive “shk-shk-shk” vocal loop was a demo placeholder intended to mimic a tambourine, but when Josh came on board to produce, he convinced Georgia that it should remain. This collaborative and experimental crafting of sounds became a signature palette of the album.
Persuasion follows with its smouldering, soulful slow-burn and Wilco-inspired fuzz guitar. Strident synth flourishes further elevate the warm, rich, and rock-solid rhythm section. The band provides a sense of gravity, anchoring Georgia’ insouciant sense of mischief as she sings – with tongue planted firmly in cheek – “I’m looking at him but I’m thinking of you”. Georgia’s vocal consistently steals the show, sashaying from a smokey, velveteen purr to a powerfully commanding wail. “I have plenty of songs about getting my heart broken, but I’ve done my fair share of misbehaving”, the singer-songwriter explains. “I wanted to write an anti-hero pop song.”
Thanks to funding support from Australia Council for the Arts, Hiraeth was recorded over a 6-month period in Josh’s own studio – a 1930s converted church at the back of his rural property in Mollongghip, Victoria. Georgia and Josh performed almost all the instrumentation across the album, with Jules Pascoe (Jazz Party; Husky) contributing bass guitar, and the Andromeda String Quartet making an appearance on three tracks. “Because we were working out of Josh’s workspace rather than hiring an external studio, we had daily access to his entire cache of drum sets and percussion.” That playful approach to crafting sounds and layering rhythms can be heard right across Hiraeth – from Persuasion’s odd-ball castanets to the ghostly terracotta garden pots on Holding My Hands Out. Otherworldly, immersive, and lush, Holding My Hands Out explores the primal desire we all have to be held. In Georgia’ own words: “it’s about reaching your hands out for comfort but grasping at shadows.”
Shadow and light, blood and water, are recurring motifs. Water to Water details Georgia’ experience of miscarriage with astonishing candour, inspired by Mizuko Kuyo – a Japanese Buddhist ceremony to mourn deceased foetuses. How A Girl Becomes A Puddle is an evocative vignette of relationship breakdown, bristling with tin-pan percussion and gritty saxophones. When To Leave The Party is a love letter to a lost friend, rippling with an emphatic beat and wistful woodwind. Album closer I Saw It Coming depicts the mesmerising nature of grief. Here, Georgia describes heartbreak “like a car crash in slow motion”. Simultaneously horrified and enthralled by the impending anguish, she sings: “I couldn’t tear my eyes away, I didn’t want to miss the display”.
While many of Hiraeth’s songs peer unflinchingly into darker pockets of the psyche, there is also humour and light. Write it on the Sky is a glistening, neon-lit anthem. Tigress is a fierce-hearted love song, with punchy drum-pad samples that evoke more than a hint of buoyant 90s nostalgia. An album to heal a broken heart, inspire new beginnings and ignite joy, Hiraeth is laden with light and shade. It’s been a labour of love that extends beyond the uncertainty of the past few years, as Georgia shares: “Hiraeth feels like a homecoming. These songs have been in my head and heart since the pandemic began, some even earlier. I spent a long time dreaming of this album and realising the sound with my incredible producer Josh… I listened to a vinyl test pressing last week and I had goosebumps – my whole body was zinging! But strangely, I also felt very grounded at the same time. I just get this sense that Hiraeth is arriving at exactly the right time. And I’m ready.”
A true artist in every sense of the word, Georgia Fields first emerged onto the local music scene in 2007 with her debut EP Drama on the High Seas of Emotion, before solidifying her reputation as one of Melbourne’s most beloved singer-songwriters with the arrival of her debut 2010 self-titled album. Landing Album Of The Week for both ABC Radio National and Beat Magazine, plus an appearance on SBS’ Rockwiz and the Queenscliff Music Festival main stage, Georgia went on to release her critically-acclaimed album Astral Debris in 2016, shortly after her first daughter was born. In 2017, she revealed a retrospective EP Afloat, Adrift, recorded live with the Andromeda String Quartet, and in 2020, after the birth of her son, Georgia launched Mother Lode: an online community for musicians who are mothers.
With performances spanning Melbourne Recital Centre, ACMI, State Library Victoria, Melbourne Fashion Week, Festival of Voices Tasmania, Brisbane Powerhouse, National Gallery of Victoria and Mullum Music Festival, Georgia’s chameleonic live prowess must be seen to be believed. Her captivating solo show sees the sonic shapeshifter move deftly between electric guitar to vintage keyboards and textural live looping, “painting entire worlds with her tunes” (Frankie Magazine). Georgia equally enamours when joined by her four-piece band of multi-instrumentalists. And on Saturday November 19, fans can catch Georgia and her stunning new album live – with some special surprises – as Georgia reveals: “For Melbourne, I’ll have my full band! It’s a matinee at the Brunswick Ballroom, which means parents can bring their kids. For the other dates on the tour, I’m reimagining the album songs in solo mode – switching it up between guitar, keyboard and live loops”.
In My Blood is out today, Wednesday October 19.
Hiraeth is set for release on Thursday November 17.
GEORGIA FIELDS – UPCOMING TOUR DATES:
SAT 19 NOV | BRUNSWICK BALLROOM, MELBOURNE VIC | ALL AGES
Tickets available from www.moshtix.com.au | 1300 GET TIX | All Moshtix Outlets
SUN 20 NOV | DAYLESFORD HOTEL, DAYLESFORD VIC | ALL AGES
Tickets available from daylesfordhotel.com.au
THU 24 NOV | LAZYBONES, SYDNEY NSW | 18+
Tickets available from www.moshtix.com.au | 1300 GET TIX | All Moshtix Outlets
SUN 27 NOV | IT’S STILL A SECRET, BRISBANE QLD | 18+
Tickets available from tickets.oztix.com.au
SUN 11 DEC | WHEATSHEAF HOTEL, ADELAIDE SA | 18+
Tickets available from tickets.oztix.com.au
SAT 17 DEC | ODESSA WINE BAR, CRESWICK VIC | 18+
Free show | info via www.facebook.com
SUN 18 DEC | THEATRE ROYAL, CASTLEMAINE VIC | ALL AGES
Free show | info via www.facebook.com
HIRAETH TRACKLIST
- Find Your Way Back
- Persuasion
- Holding My Hands Out
- When To Leave The Party
- Water to Water
- In My Blood
- Tigress
- Write It On The Sky
- How A Girl Becomes A Puddle
- I Saw it Coming
BAILEY RODRIGUES SHARES NEW SINGLE WHO DIS
“New view / New sound / This a new game”; so goes the fittingly fresh opening lines to the new track WHO DIS out today from Gold Coast rapper, Bailey Rodrigues. An upbeat, shimmering combo of house and hip hop, Who Dis is an instant feel-good jam, with Bailey also teaming up with producer Matt McGuffie (Ivey, Tia Gostelow, Tanisha, Erin Foster, Clovo) to bring his latest vivacious tune into the world.
Bustling with good vibes, bouncing beats and glimmering instrumentation, WHO DIS marks the second single released in 2022 showcasing Baileyand Matt’s ongoing endeavours into fusing a fresh new take on house music and rap. Equally full of youthful exuberance and lively production, WHO DIS is a fun and focused foray into the sharp sonic world that Bailey’s been ardently building of late, as Bailey himself shares, “I am super excited to be releasing this new sound that Matt and I have been working on for the last couple of months. We really feel like it’s something people haven’t heard before from an Australian artist”.
With Bailey at the helm of WHO DIS alongside the seasoned expertise of modern house, pop and dance music extraordinaire Matt taking on production, mixing and mastering duties, WHO DIS takes its catchy and polished cues from the likes of Young Franco and Drake, while also injecting the pair’s own future-facing take on the modern hip hop scene, as Bailey elaborates, “We definitely had a Young Franco influence for this one, I just love his style and the upbeat vibes his music has. Listening to his tracks just makes you want to get out in the sun and have an ice-cold beverage or 10. And obviously Drake’s latest work has been an influence too, but I think subconsciously hip hop was always slowly heading in this direction. WHO DIS is our second song that is pushing into this lane that we are paving; mixing house music and rap we are bringing nothing but good vibes that instantly lighten any mood”.
A relatively new face on the scene, Bailey has spent the last four years following his creative dreams whilst actively striving to inspire others to do the same. With multiple singles in his wake, including the sultry Colours and his earlier 2022 track PIGGY BANK, Bailey’s affable flow coupled with genuine passion and multiple fingers on the pulse of modern hip hop and dance has seen Bailey rise to even greater heights on his latest new release. A true music lover at heart, Bailey’s journey ultimately traces back to a chance meeting with American rapper G-Eazy during a previous Australian tour, as Bailey reveals, “I’ve been following this dream for four years now. I know it’s cliché to say, but music has been a big part of my life, and any artist’s life really. But for me, it all really started when I met G-Eazy backstage before one of his earlier Australian shows. The effect he had on the room and the performance he put on really changed my life and I knew in that second that this is all I wanted to do. My goal is to inspire and have the same positive effect on people’s lives and show them you don’t have to do what’s expected of you by society; you can chase your dream or follow that passion and make a career out of it”.
The perfect summer bop, WHO DIS is the ultimate blend of infectious energy and effervescence from an extremely exciting young artist primed and ready to shape the industry and the world at large for the better, as Bailey concludes, “I think WHO DIS has landed right on time, with where hip hop is going. For late 2022 and early 2023 – this is the sound. It’s where the culture is right now. When we listen to tracks from artists like Young Franco they have this smooth energy about them that boosts your mood straight away. There’s no denying WHO DIS does exactly that”.
Who Dis is out today, Wednesday October 19.
GEM SHARES NEW SINGLE ‘RUINS’ + NEW EP ‘HEALING FEELINGS’ OUT NOW
Often among the literal and metaphorical ruins, plenty of life’s gems and lessons can be found; and for Australian producer and DJ GEM, heartrending gold has evolved from heartbreak and self discovery, with her stunning new single Ruins, out now, softly and serenely billowing you away with its empowered authenticity. A lesson in healing and dreamy indie pop, Ruins also provides a glance into GEM’s new EP Healing Feelings which was officially released on Friday September 30.
Gentle, undulating and flowing with swooning melodics, Ruins pits invigorating yet simplistic textures against GEM’s ethereal vocals. Like a meditative surge of warmth and fresh renewal, Ruins greets as a spiritual and slow-burning delight, softly building with sultry beats, while also acting as the perfect introduction to the broader EP Healing Feelings, as GEM explains, “I wanted the EP to reintroduce myself, starting with the parts that I hide the most. The story begins with Ruins. I was holding on so tightly to an idea that didn’t exist anymore – once I let that relationship shatter, the breakthrough begun and the healing started. I wanted the EP to start in mess, tangled, unsure, inching your way into the day as we all sometimes do and slowly, step by step, track by track find that voice, that inner knowing that sets you right again. I made a very deliberate decision to connect all the pieces of myself and make whole, regardless how popular that may or may not be”.
The single is accompanied by a live video featuring Martin Estrada on guitar (Selena Gomez, Macy Gray, Gashi, Say Grace, Snoop Dog).
Balancing pensive delivery with focused intention, GEM’s dreamy blend of liberating lyricism and transformative soundscapes practically leap out of the speakers and transports you body and soul into the subtle beauty of the world around on her upcoming EP; from the meditative experimental opener Soul Bath, to the empowering spoken word of Heartfelt, the lush flow of Innerbloom and the vivid vibration of Remedy, complete with a gospel choir, the broader Healing Feelings EP offers a tangible sonic feast, simultaneously reintroducing GEM to the world while also stoically showcasing GEM’s pursuit of connection in unexpected times alongside electronic undertones, as she reveals, “Truth be told, this wasn’t the EP I started to make. Or the one I was supposed to make. I felt myself being pulled towards a very conscious creation process. I started producing my own spiritual music and decided that I would blend wellness benefits into the mix so it was more than just another song in the background. I wanted to produce a project that would remind you on a deep level that there are better days ahead, that you can stop and start again at any moment and that you can manifest a healthy beautiful life – not something that would win me awards with the cool kids and I to make peace with that inside my heart. I was told New Age music was boring and that no one would listen, I was told that positivity was lame and people wouldn’t connect with it. That I should dig deeper past just things I love. That music should express pain. But how can I dig past love? Isn’t love the very reason for existing?”.
Embracing life’s highs, lows and everything in between, ultimately emerging with tales of insecurity, sex, the divine feminine and being the architect of all of your best days still to come, Healing Feelings wholeheartedly encapsulates its transformative moniker, merging clever and calm downtempo-meets-new-age beauty alongside polished production, splashes of neo soul and a significant lack of ego throughout the charming six tracks. And while undeniably flexing the scintillating creative know-how that has seen GEM snag millions of streams to date on Spotify so far alone as she continues to build into one of Australia’s most illustrious musical exports, the undeniable root behind Healing Feelings is an inescapable and genuine peace as much as it is a window into GEM’s own healing, as she explains, “I wanted to use the EP to openly talk about insecurities and not owning your ideas and how I’d been tip toeing and circling around my truest dream, as if shrinking and unthinking it was somehow safe keeping. I wanted a dreamy, inspiring musical blend, with empowering words and authentic messages. I longed for the music to carry you into the sunrise and just sit there, amongst all the beauty quietly complementing the colours of dawn. The theme is healing your feelings, cleansing and starting afresh. Wherever you may be on your journey”.
A trailblazing force in the musical world, GEM has tirelessly worked to innovate and lead the way for local artists into the international scene. Having previously been named in the Top 5 female music producers worldwide by Showbiz Magazine, GEM, currently based in Los Angeles has been nominated twice at the IMAs for Best Album (Electronic) and Producer Of The Year, as well as having her debut album The2070s hit #2 on the Australian iTunes Electronic Chart back in 2019. More recently, GEM was also one of only six producers selected globally to participate in the prestigious Grammy NEXT program, mentoring under Jeff Gitty of The Weeknd, HER and John Legend fame, and has also appeared at numerous high-profile gigs including TED Talks, the Emmys pre-party, Pride Miami and Pride NYC amongst countless others.
Percolating deep at the core of the GEM success story is ultimately a desire to explore her own journey, while inspiring others to do the same; something she delivers in stunning spades both on Ruins and the broader EP her sublime new track calls home, as she concludes, “I create music to make yourself better too. Music to raise your vibration with. Music that will encourage you to find all of the parts of yourself that you also hide and have the confidence to bring those to the world. Music that makes you dream more vividly, music that flips this antiquated narrative we’ve been sold for generations that shadowy, non-transparent, pre-fabricated, limiting and isolating story lines are the only ones worth selling. I am not here to ‘fake it until I make it’, I am here to share how I manage my own health using what I do (music production) in the hopes you can take inspiration from it and it makes your life a little sweeter too”. For anyone grappling with heartbreak, healing or just in need of a lush and intuitive listen, Ruins is a curative triumph against the chaos of life, and a perfect scene-setter for GEM’s next sonic chapter.
Healing Feelings is out now