<p><span><span><em>- First Time Really Feeling</em><span>, the seventh solo album from Melbourne based songwriter Liz Stringer, opens with the stunning title track. From a minimal beginning of keys and noodly guitar, it builds over almost six minutes to a stirring melody and epic instrumental conclusion. It is classic sounding without being derivative. Stringer says the song is “</span><em>about experiencing the world with a clear and present heart for the first time after beginning a process of intense personal change, precipitated by getting sober at 36”.</em><span> It is certainly an evocative and uplifting piece of music. For me, it is one of the best singles I have heard this year.</span></span></span></p>
<p><span><span><span>It’s difficult to follow an opening like that, and to be honest nothing else quite matches it. But there is still plenty to like about the album, an ambitious 47 minutes of classic rock and pop songwriting.</span></span></span></p>
<p><span><span><em>Dangerous</em><span> is a nuanced look at troubled relationships and problematic masculinity, </span><em>Victoria</em><span> and </span><em>The Things That I Know Now</em><span> both explore Stringer’s relationship with place. </span><em>The Metrologist</em><span> is an outpouring of inner anxieties and a study of how a companionship can salve them, closer </span><em>My History</em><span> joins it as a kind of personal confession, again reflecting on her addiction. Musically it is mostly slow ballads, but with a few rockers and a well-refined sense of songwriting dynamics, even an epic choir on </span><em>The Waning of the Sun</em><span>. The whole album is beautifully played and produced, unafraid to let the songs sprawl out past the four or five minute mark.</span></span></span></p>
<p><span><span><em>First Time Really Feeling</em><span> seems like the kind of record an artist on their seventh album should try to make. Comfortable in her own voice, exploring different ideas, not trying too hard to fit into an established mould or make a crossover hit.</span></span></span></p>
<p><span><span><span>It could yet be that though – Stringer’s position in Australian music has been steadily growing, helped by her involvement in the supergroup of sorts </span><strong>Dyson Stringer Cloher</strong><span>. At the most recent Woodford Folk Festival, she was honoured by her fellow songwriters with a tribute concert. If there is hunger out there for literate and well-crafted songwriting, this is as good an example as anyone is likely to find. She seems perfect for an audience of her own generation, raised on guitar music but seeking something a bit more grown up. Liz Stringer is not necessarily a name mentioned among the best songwriters in this country, but </span><em>First Time Really Feeling</em><span> could change that.</span></span></span></p>
<p><span><span>- Andy Paine.</span></span></p>
<iframe style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=1067162221/size=large/bgcol=f…; seamless><a href="https://lizstringer.bandcamp.com/album/first-time-really-feeling">First Time Really Feeling by Liz Stringer</a></iframe>