- Queensland’s Gold Coast trades on an image of fun. It’s sunny all the time, the blue water throws curving, tubular swells into the shore, and the beaches are a lengthy stretch of sandy playgrounds. Then there is the nightlife which is a brightly coloured, neon lit wonderland that screams party, party, party! So what it is about “Australia’s Playground” that produces artists who create music that seems to be somewhat off-piste, if not an antithesis of that marketing image? Performers like Eleea, Lastlings, Amy Shark and Athena Joy.
After a well-regarded debut in 2018, Athena Joy returns to cement a reputation of being able to unpack deep, emotional experiences in an EP that has the six songs set in a cascade of swirling sounds as well as simple, almost fragile frameworks. The EP drops into stride immediately with The Weekend, which echoes many thoughts that late teens / early twenty-somethings experience: the stuck at home / no friends / why bother world view of “is this as good as it gets?”
Moving on to Just Like You there’s a tinge of the terrace-like keyboard-based chords that Adele uses to build up to a strong chorus that pushes a line of self-realisation and self-empowerment. The anthem power ballad with the driving bass is a style that suits Athena Joy well. Rush sits in the middle of the EP with a sparse arrangement to begin, underscoring the lyrics that critique the singer’s experiences of feeling less understood by others, such as 'living in my bones' and 'no one knows how it feels', putting the issue of living with anxiety in the spotlight; a place someone living with anxiety never really wants to be.
The title track is probably even sparser, relying mostly on guitar and drums, with a subtle keyboard backing. It’s where the swirling sounds duet with Athena Joy’s voice as she looks at the thoughts which criss-crosses from isolation to imagination. Sailin’ might sound like, from the title, it’s something “Gold-Coast-y” but, no, it pulls the listener out of the gaudy background into a place away from the noise and tumult that both a brash city and a person dealing with anxiety experience. It is probably the standout track of the six on offer. Rounding out the release is a coda to the previous track and Take Me Away is gentle, almost lullaby like, reassuring both the listener and the performer that despite the chaos there is some hope of release from the torment experienced.
Athena Joy shares the production credits with Jared Adlem, there is some comparison to the American darling of fragile, emotional pop Banks and also some of Athena Joy’s vocal delivery sits in the same zone as Lisa Mitchell. Joy doesn’t stop her imagination from infusing the lyrics with a wondering that others might shy away from, and it’s where the EP is at its strongest. The minimalist use of production, except where it comes in to make a statement (such as on Rush or The Weekend) also sets this and Athena Joy several dozen glitter strips away from the facile, sun-bleached party town that the Gold Coast really is.
- Blair Martin.