Philippa Nihill is a founding member of Melbourne’s Underground Lovers and her dreamy vocals are a key part of their signature sound. She has announced today that her new solo album ‘Find Her Way’, will be released Friday April 14. The album will be available on limited edition 180-gram vinyl, CD and digital formats and is available to pre-order now HERE
The first taste of Philippa’s new music is the album’s first single, also titled Find Her Way, which is out today. The single is available instantly when you pre-order the album, or it can be purchased or streamed individually HERE.
The song is part playful homage to the lush string arrangements of the 70’s and part big nod to the Klatuu song Calling Occupants, which was made famous by the Carpenters. It’s a woozy track, on which time moves sideways, and all of a sudden, our favourite Occupant alien is searching for a way home. The strings soar and the rhythm drives a killer chorus that begs repeat listens
Philippa Nihill reconnected with her family’s old upright piano in 2019 and something strange happened. The 70’s chords she’d learned as a beginner came rushing back.
Time slowed. It warped a little.
“My mum taught me to play piano when I was a kid. I spent hours trying to figure out parts from records we had in the house, the Carpenters, the Bee Gees, Carly Simon and Carole King. Those chords are my go to whenever I sit at that particular piano. For the first time I wrote songs to go with those chords.â€
On Find Her Way NIhill has teamed up with Gene Argiro (Sunfruits) with Argiro bringing sublime 70’s references and a sophisticated electronic sensibility to his production.
“There’s a woozy and playful nature to the songs themselves where time and audio styles merge and cross reference. Gene got that from day one.
“We pretty quickly settled into what I think is a really great blend of classic 70’s style (Find Her Way and Love Song for Sierra Nevada) and a more current electronic pop style (Light Dream and Glisten).
“We worked online for the most part with regular zoom sessions and constant files transfers. Amidst conversations about lockdowns, the weather and the craziness of life we found this great cadence, a rhythm that mostly bought out the best in the songs and each other.”
Nihill’s rich moog scapes bed perfectly with her piano and gorgeous vocal layering. In addition to his own multi instrumental and vocal contributions, Gene Argiro curated some stunning vocal, wind and string performances courtesy of Imogen Cygler and Flora Carbo, sensational string arrangements by Theo Carbo, rock god shredding guitars from Lewis Mosely and additional laid back drums by Winnie McQuin.
All the while the perfect bass of Maurice Argiro lands this unique record right on the heartstrings.
Philippa Nihill is a founding member of Melbourne’s Underground Lovers and her dreamy vocals are a key part of their signature sound.
Nihill’s solo work includes the EP ‘Dead Sad’ (1996) and the album ‘A Little Easy’ (2000).
Nihill worked with Glenn Bennie on the GB3 albums, ‘Circlework’ (2003), ‘Emptiness is Our Business’ (2006) & ‘Damaged/Controlled’ (2010). She also collaborated with Irish Australian filmmaker Paula Kehoe on the 2006 album ‘Saoi, This Drowning is Dreaming’
The Album ‘Find Her Way’ will be released on April 14.
It is available to pre order at Bandcamp from today
https://philippanihill.bandcamp.com/album/find-her-way
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Thanks to Dave Laing Publicity
