If there's any artist to be super excited about right now, it's the phenomenal Australian avant-pop artist Bec Sandridge. Choosing to push herself with angularity and song writing, Sandridge delves deep into her emotions to unveil a five-track EP, Lost Dog, that quite possibly reveals her best work to date.
On new single "Easy To Go Bad", with it's rising guitar melodies and Courtney Barnett-styled lyricism, Sandridge plays with nostalgia. Her vocals are elevated above the iridescent backdrop of sketchy beats and jangly motifs; "it's easy to go back" she sings, a simple reminder not too. "It’s far too easy to go back to something that feels like home," Sandridge says of the single. "Nonetheless, this is potentially my favourite on the EP. For me, it embodies that disgusting feeling of being trapped in a stuffy-car, all day, with a stomach ache."
While the Shania Twain-inspired "Cost of Love" is an anthemic number that swirls with intrigue, the synth powered "The Jetty" is a fuzzy sonic dream that transports you to Bec's own unique realm of pop. Her ability to settle you into a moment to truly listen to her words is infectious – I want to be in that state of mind forever. Also sharing the previously unreleased track "Claustrophobia", the track is a dazzling 80s-infused cut that sparkles with glorious synths and pop euphoria.
"I was a bit of a lost dog, myself and I also lost my dog. This EP is a snapshot of that time. The goal was to take time and write my best songs to date," explains Sandridge "On my debut record, I felt that I hadn't gone as far as I could in terms of angularity and the whole gloss-pop thing. I wanted to really sit in that pocket… To me, this lot of songs feels like driving into a sunset, no sunglasses, with an ache in the pit of your stomach (potentially a hangover): it’s sickeningly beautiful, temporarily blinding and also, signifying the end of a big ol’ chapter."
Lost Dog is a whirlwind of pop. A collection of boundary-pushing tracks that span the spectrum of pop's abilities. Bec Sandrige moulds pop to suit her needs, a way of transforming something into her own. Brimming with emotions, with experiences and with lessons attached, each track on this EP can stand on its own, but as a whole, it's a phenomenal body of work.
