Peach PRC – Symptomatic
Peach PRC is the Australian queen of TikTok and she is slowly taking over the world with her hilarious and candid viral videos. But as she steps into music, she’s transferring her honesty and playful vibe into harnessing strong pop tracks that will be heavily embedded in your head for hours after one listen.
‘Symptomatic’ is the second track taken from her forthcoming debut EP and it’s just as punchy and anthemic as its viral predecessor ‘Josh’. With a strong pop production layered with gritty guitars, bold pop beats and slinky synths, it’s very polished and ear-wormy which is exactly what you wanted from her.
Candidly opening up about her mental health she explores a conversation she had with her therapist where they compared her to Harley Quinn with the manic highs and invincible attitude she sometimes has. The comment really upset her at first, but then she decided she wanted to celebrate the complexity of feelings she experiences. “And he said; ‘Hey, I know you’re okay, but don’t throw out your meds cause you had a good day’. He said; ‘Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Just cause you saw the world through some peach coloured glasses. It’s all just symptomatic’” she sings during the infectious hook.
Peach PRC is the honest pop star we need in 2021, and you better be ready for her global domination.
Ed Sheeran – Bad Habits
Ed Sheeran is beginning a new chapter in his career ahead of his forthcoming fifth studio album with a song that reinvents everything he’s ever done before. Announcing that this new era will see him playing with a live band on tour, the lead single ‘Bad Habits’ really hones that bold vision and cements the soncial experimentation that is about to be had.
With a pulsating dance beat embedded into the hook that will catch listeners off guard, it’s boldly confident and sounds like it’s a remix of a Ed Sheeran song and not essentially the original. But that’s not technically a bad thing, it just takes a moment to digest over what you were expecting from him which was more in the stylings of recent fan single ‘Afterglow’. But the nostalgia filled pop-dance track is reminiscent of September’s ‘Cry For You’ and will have you immediately transported to the middle of the 2000’s.
Confessing all the bad habits he used to do late in the night especially when he was on tour, he makes it known that he wants to do better with his wife and kid now in the picture. “My bad habits lead to late nights ending alone. Conversations with a stranger I barely know. Swearing this will be the last, but it probably won’t. I got nothing left to lose, or use, or do”. The forthcoming album is all about different moments in his life, and this one is very present and assertive of the type of man, husband and father he wants to be.
‘Bad Habits’ is a polarising song compared to everything else he’s ever done, but it’s also a very exciting one as it hears him reinventing himself as an artist and delivering something fresh.
Spacey Jane – Lots Of Nothing
“Spacey Jane gives you Lots Of Nothing” is a funny headline to read, but in reality, they’ve delivered quite a lot within this new anthem that feels very timely and universal. ‘Lots Of Nothing’ is the Perth four-piece’s first new music since their debut album ‘Sunlight’ which was released in June last year.
Honing their signature indie-rock sound they steer into this new chapter of music with a mature growth and understanding learnt through creating their debut album. With soothing guitars layered over a driven bass line and strong drums, lead singer Caleb Harper’s vocals add this storytelling magic that has you listening in-depthly to every lyric.
The last year has seen lot of people struggling with mental health and self-love, and this song captures that difficult wrestle with accepting all the parts of yourself; good and bad, before you can get better. “My head’s filled with lots of nothing. Come on, you must think something of him. Fall in love to fall right out, and break apart without a sound” Harper sings.
It’s a song that a lot of people will need to hear in this current moment, and they will find solace in knowing they aren’t alone in this discovery of feeling lots of nothing.
Eilish Gilligan – Get Well Soon
Eilish Gilligan has been on my “must watch” list for the past 4 years and she hasn’t disappointed with an introspective growing discography that is emotively charged and candidly filtered. With a dreamy electronic pop sound shining through these tracks, she surprised listeners by dropping a very stripped back debut EP last year titled ‘Hospital’. The intimate collection of songs were built up from the raw foundations of the piano and transported you into this very melodramatic world of reflection that felt very poignant.
Stepping into 2021, she returned to her electronic-pop sound with recent single ‘Up All Night’ and with the arrival of the pulsating ‘Get Well Soon’ she has announced that her second EP ‘First One To Leave The Party’ will be released on August 6.
Deeply rooted in the grieving process of a relationship she makes a call out for wanting to be better and to stop feeling so hurt and sick from this separation. But if you’ve found yourself in a heartbreak state before then you are well aware that it isn’t that easy, and you just have to allow the emotions guide you to the path you need to be on. So this song grapples with that process in a very introspective and beautiful way. “Tell me the point of looking beautiful If you’re not here to see it? Give every year of looking young to you If you’d agree to take it” she sings before admitting “I’m so sick without you. I want to get better. I want to get well soon”.
Contrasting these heavy emotions with a upbeat pop production, she foreshadows the eventual peace she will find where she will get better, but it is a process, and you have to go through the heartbreak to get there. So really this song is a celebration of the process of a break-up and learning to embrace the feelings you experience.
FLETCHER – Healing
Last year FLETCHER delivered one of the most personal, reflective and addictive EP’s of 2020 with ‘THE S(EX) TAPES’. It’ was a body of work that was raw at its roots and produced up in this bold and definitive way. Ready to continue growing her artistry through vulnerable storytelling and bold production, ‘Healing’ is the American singer-songwriter’s first official single since the EP and follows in the footsteps of the promotional tracks ‘Last Laugh’ from the Promising Young Woman soundtrack, ‘On Fire Again’ from To All The Boys: Always And Forever soundtrack and ‘She Said’ from the Love Victor season 2 soundtrack (which are all bangers in their own right).
With a trap-pop beat heavily embedded in the guitar intertwined production, she shifts away from the pulsating synth-pop she had been experimenting with and gives a fresh sonical perspective. This wasn’t the sound I was expecting from her, and it took a couple of listens to really adapt to the chilled out trap tone she was honing. But her vocals soothingly fit this aesthetic so perfectly, and you will find yourself really tuning into the lyrical exploration of strength.
Embracing her rawness, she immediately sets the tone with the opening line from the chorus; “I’ve been feeling inside out in my feelings”. Vulnerably stating where she’s at mentally, she takes the listeners on a journey of self-refection. “I ain’t there yet but I’m healing” she admits, and that’s a powerful sentiment that listeners will really embrace in their own personal journey’s.
Check out the #BLEACHED playlist for all of the months top music picks BELOW;