- Around the world, festivals, radio stations and promoters have been asking themselves: what is the next big thing that’s going to come out of Melbourne, the city that’s given us such internationally bankable acts as Harvey Sutherland, Courtney Barnett, and Hiatus Kaiyote?
The answer for those playing at home is: Allysha Joy. Part of the upcoming wave of Australian soul artists that have been unleashed by the runaway popularity of those leftfield, rnb-jazz wizards, Joy is carving out her own niche in the ecology with super-smooth vocals, deceptively deft keyboards and a knack for fostering a genuine feeling of community amongst the sprawling talent pool of VCA-music-stream-kids, and drum-circle post-hippies she’s drawn on to make this album happen.
Enjoying a meteoric rise from fronting Brunswick post-code poster-children 30/70 to being invited to play a solo keys+vox set on Giles Peterson’s show in London this time last year, Joy is a capable and ambitious artist. With no small measure of pressure to deliver on her debut long-player, Joy has produced a self-assured record, bristling with confidence and playing squarely to her considerable strengths as a soulful vocalist, and bold arranger. The result is a release that showcases as much about the scene of jammers and friends it emerged from as it does a single individual.
Allysha Joy is the seed at the centre point of a crystalline network of gun players who have been shown what is possible for Australian music and who are ready to execute the next quantum leap forward, to manifest the glittering future they know is waiting… and we’re all eagerly waiting to see it too: expect every other player on this record to have a solo project out in the next year or two.
Acadie: Raw is not exactly an all new record, containing breakout single from 2017 Akala (a dedication to the UK poet, freestyle philosopher and publisher) as well as pieces that the attentive observer will know have been honed in live sets over the past few years, such as the single Selfish. These are all-new versions though, with punchy expansive arrangements and generous, lush vocal layering.
Stylistically Raw has the primary colours of mystic soul, spiritual jazz, and deep r'n'b, all filtered through the sometimes-minimalist, always-slightly-nerdy lens of the conservatorium set. No surprises there, given their pedigree is a straight through-line from those ubiquitously influential Kaiyotes, however the aim here is a little less crypto-funk and a little more soothing. Joy's poetry is lyrical and direct, speaking to experiences of the modern world and what it's like being a sensitive soul within it. File alongside giants like Erykah Badu, and Nina Simone, and be ready for even bigger things to come.
- Kieran Ruffles.