- To write a song can be a daunting experience. Do you wrap it in metaphors to hide the truth behind the lyric, or do you bare it all like a heart on a sleeve? Young Brisbane indie folk-rock artist Asha Jefferies does both. Her debut release Hold Yourself Together is a six track EP dripping with candid truths, and vulnerable, emotionally-driven songwriting.
Opening track Chaos blends imperfect rhymes with delicate electric guitar and soft percussion, before building into a simple, repetitive, but effective bridge - subtle harmonies make a rare appearance here, giving the track the perfect amount of lift. If You Were My Hero is one of the more upbeat, with a stronger drumline creating a bittersweet feeling to what is, lyrically, one of the more melancholic tracks on the EP.
Jeffries’ vocals build in strength, song by song, before coming to a goosebump inducing high on the titular Hold Yourself Together. The closing song of the EP utilises the raw emotion in her voice to carry the slow and drawn out ballad, that is flanked by dissonant guitar chords and sombre lyrics detailing the devastating reality of seeing the people you love in pain. Asha’s voice warbles out with a carefully placed vibrato; it makes you think of the whimper and break in your voice when you’re on the verge of tears.
Lyricism shines strong throughout all six tracks, and while it’s conceptually much in the same vein as her peers, Jeffries adds a raw honesty that is often missing and quite impossible to fake. Her word-weaving is more than a relatable pull at the heartstrings or a teenage diary entry, but rather a thoroughly introspective narrative of going through the qualms of adolescence, without entering too deeply into melodrama.
You can hear the time, thought and precision that Hold Yourself Together was created with, and it’s a mature record for a debut release by a young artist. If Asha Jefferies continues down this path, it won’t be long before we see her named alongside the front-runners of this genre.
- Olivia Shoesmith.