There is nothing better to brighten up a dullard of a day than a little bit of effervescent pop that fizzes with more sparkle than a shaken bottle of Champagne. Naarm/Melbourne-based artists Mathilde Anne has just released a firecracker of a single ‘Way In There’, along with an explosive video, that has more zest than a grove of lemon trees and a kind of hyperkinetic energy that would power an entire country for a decade.
There is a profound melancholy pop sensibility in the delivery, a restrained beginning that morphs into a funky, sweaty beat with a relentless high-stepping pace, dappling guitars and layered harmonies. The track snakes and slithers with a restraint that smolders and burns – seething with a sensuous sense of desire and longing.
Anne says of the track:
This song focuses on an over dramatised experience I had throughout my teenage years – overdramatised because I’m a Pisces and everything must be more cinematic than it actually is.
The idea was essentially the feeling of being in love with a girl and spending a lot of time in her company in a romantic way, however she doesn’t acknowledge you much in a public setting as you are out of the lion witch and the wardrobe and she isn’t yet.
Anne has Synesthesia (seeing music in colour) -she says:
I draw a lot of my inspo from Pinterest. I went in creating a few mood boards that were somewhat colour coordinated to how I view this song. I think ‘Way Up There’ is primarily purple and blue as a song.
This was something I tried to incorporate a lot into the reference tracks and sounds that I showed James.. I also drew a lot of inspiration from Parcels, Alfie Templeton and Sabrina Carpenter.
The accompanying video is a mesmerising and intoxicating performance piece with Anne displaying more attitude than the winner of the international attitude awards, a louche, insouciant performance that positively bristles with the sort of arrogance and disdain that all good cathartic rock and roll demands.
This is pulse quickening stuff and an immense joy.
The track was written by Anne and Nayomi Pattuwage (Sandhill Records, Like Bear) and produced and mixed by James Seymour who also contributed to the instrumentation with Anne.
‘Way Up There’ is out through Sandhill Records and available to download and stream here, with an album on the way.
Feature Photograph: Daniel Nathans
