1. Tea, Milk & Honey by Oh Pep!
I’ve been on an Oh Pep! binge this week, brought on by Angie McMahon’s recent ‘virtual concert’ during which she sang a cover of her fellow Aussie band’s song Tea, Milk & Honey. After a few listens I was completely hooked, and the track’s now been on repeat for days.
Multi-instrumentalists Olivia Hally and Pepita Emmerichs have been creating music together through this shared project Oh Pep! since 2016. With Hally’s Florence Welch-like vocals and the vibrant, creative instrumentation in all of their songs, their music integrates all sorts of styles (most of which I probably don't even know).
A few of their other singles have caught my ear (incl. Hurt Nobody and 25), but Tea, Milk & Honey has had a special pull. I love how drawn out the build-up is; you really have no idea what’s to come. Hally alone carries the song for the first two minutes, and honestly I think if she'd continued with the minimalist backing until the very end, the song would’ve been beautiful enough.
But as it goes on, they add more and more elements – the harmonies, the guitar, the tambourine, the strings – until it all crescendos in the final minute and a half. Goosebumps every time. I think this duo has got to be among the best of Australia’s 'folk' scene these days.
2. Motel Evangeline by Malena Cadiz
A big thank you to my Discovery Weekly for this one. Motel Evangeline is the most recent single of Malena Cadiz – the NYC-based singer who I’d like to call an 'up ’n comer', because she has shockingly few Spotify listeners considering her talent.
Motel Evangeline is a dreamy soundscape which sounds like it's floating almost the entire time. But one of the most beautiful moments of the song is when Cadiz suddenly strips the music back completely at 2:34, as if bringing your feet back to ground.
3. Want Me Back by BENEE
From New Zealand’s rising star of the year, Want Me Back comes off of BENEE’S 2019 debut EP. It's been a bit overshadowed by the success of the EP’s other tracks like Glitter and Supalonely, but Want Me Back finds the singer in a rare moment of vulnerability.
Known more for her candy-coated pop beats – you’ve probably seen a dance or two of them on TikTok – she has said that Want Me Back “is a more personal song, where I really open up about a sadder experience of having an ex pop back up into my life.” The sincerity of emotion comes through every time she briefly lets down her guard in the pre-chorus (“playing with my heart and I turn blind”).
4. Betsy by Billie Marten
It took me quite a few listens to realize just what it was about this Billie Marten song that kept drawing me back to it, and I now attribute it fully to her voice. It has such an alluring, eerie softness – not unlike the quality of Billie Eilish’s voice (the other Billie, if you will); and so alluring that I paid no attention whatsoever to the actual words she was singing until it came to writing this post. Turns out Marten chose a political message for this single (“Are you ruined by the shake of a hand?”).
She’s explained that Betsy is “about confronting a politician, no one in particular, but sort of ridiculing them… The song turns the wise old politician into a child; infantilizing them takes away their power.” I honestly would have been content with whatever she was singing about – her voice is appealing enough – but it always helps when the lyrics have some intention.
Listen on Spotify to all 'Songs of the Week' here.
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