For the cognoscenti, Philippa Nihill provides the ethereal vocals and instrumentation for the magnificent Underground Lovers: adding a magnetic and enigmatic presence in the live shows that often contrasts with the maelstrom that surrounds her. She has just released a stunning new solo single ‘Finds Her Way’ as an amuse bouche to a forthcoming album that is in gestation.
Nihill’s vocal strengths are a given – the evidence is strewn across numerous Underground Lovers album. When Nihill takes the vocal controls, the song is invariable a delicate and ghostly standout that brings forth the ambient dream pop side of the band.
‘Find Her Way’ is evidence that Nihill also possess an acute ear for songwriting and melody. It is a thrilling track that has a Burt Bacharach sixties/seventies swing to it – delicious horns frame the euphonic chorus and there is a drama and theatricality to the pace and rhythm. All the glitter and gold is steadied by Nihill’s velvet, often distant and dissociated, vocals that form an oily surface calming heaving seas as the song builds up to an anthemic crescendo. A circular piano refrain provides a steady handle on the tiller and adds to the touch of melancholy.
Nihill says the song is a nod to the seventies, the late, great Karen Carpenter and the track ‘Calling Occupants’:
On this woozy track, time moves sideways and all of a sudden our favourite Occupant alien is searching for a way home. The strings soar and the rhythm drives a killer chorus that begs repeat listens.
The result is something quite delicious – a stately and ethereal pop song that has a presence and style:
An absolute sparkle of sonic brilliance.
The single is out now and available through the link above and all the usual streaming services. You can also pre-order the album through the above link. Nihill says of the writing of the album:
My mum taught me to play piano when I was a kid. I spent hours trying to figure out parts from records we had in the house, the Carpenters, the Bee Gees, Carly Simon and Carole King. Those chords are my go to whenever I sit at that particular piano. For the first time I wrote songs to go with those chords
The recording has a panoply of musical talent:
Gene Argiro – Drums, Percussion,
Maurice Argiro – Bass,
Theo Carbo – String arrangement,
Imogen Cygler – Violin,
Lewis Mosley – Guitar,
Philippa Nihill – Piano, Vocals.
Nihill also worked with Glenn Bennie on the GB3 albums, Circlework (2003), Emptiness is Our Business (2006) & Damaged/Controlled (2010). She collaborated with Irish Australian filmmaker Paula Kehoe on the 2006 album Saoi, This Drowning is Dreaming.
