GUTHRIE will officially launch the debut EP with a special show at Leadbeater Hotel on August 26.
Melbourne’s folktronica connoisseur GUTHRIE (they/them) – the project of Tess Guthrie – has today released their highly anticipated debut EP INCUBATOR, a stunning four-track collection of exciting textures and flavours in the folk spectrum.
The EP follows the release of singles ‘Dickhead Song’ and ‘Best You Ever Had’, and across four intimate tracks, GUTHRIE’s voice remains steady constant, breathy, deep and powerful, flexing across their range with confidence and ease. The production is surprising and innovative, as is the tracklist – a cover of Kings of Leon’s global hit Use Somebody hits with as much emotional weight as any of the other tracks on the record.
Keep up with the latest music news, festivals, interviews and reviews here.
When asked about the themes explored on the EP, GUTHRIE answers, “Identity, queerness, agency, friendships and love. The EP moves from intimate, raw folktronica to dark, industrial electronic, and uses organic warmth and dark elements in equal measure.”
GUTHRIE, featuring Tess Guthrie (vocals, guitars, Ableton), Libby Ferris (lead guitar), Jake Pickering (drums), Oliver Powell (bass) and Billy Exton (saxophone, Ableton) – is celebrating the release with a headline show at Leadbeater in Richmond on August 26, with tickets running at an innovative, accessible pricing structure that leaves no music fans out.
To celebrate the vibrant debut, GUTHRIE has gifted us an exclusive insight into the EP, taking us through all four tracks and how they came together.
Best You Ever Had
Best You Ever Had certainly went through multiple iterations during lockdown. Sophie Payten (Gordi) and I were sending pre-production versions back and forth to each other for ages and I think the DNA in this track ended up defining the sound for the whole EP. Sophie put so much work into it which I’m so grateful for. And I think it also really gave me an opportunity to work on my own production skills, and pratice trying to express what I wanted to feel when listening to the track.
Dickhead Song
I was so excited by the reception for Dickhead Song when it came out recently. I think there was something really validating about that song getting so much love from the Triple J Unearthed team, but the most meaningful part for me was all the beautiful messages from people telling me what it meant to them. The song is very much a blend of a friendship love song, and me trying to give my past-self a bit of a pep-talk. There’s certainly a lot of victim-blaming out there and people don’t realise how hard it is to leave abusive relationships, and so I wanted to write something which explores the complexity of that feeling when you want happiness for a friend so badly, and for them to be treated with respect, but you also want to make sure they feel empowered rather than blamed when you talk to them.
Hers
I think Hers is a celebration of queerness but also a bit of a fuck-you to the internalised male gaze. The first version of the song started very sweet and folky but as I reflected more on what I wanted it to be about it really felt like the production needed to match the vibe. So we ended up with a dark, electronic, industrial type sound influenced by BANKS with lots of vocal samples.
Use Somebody
I feel like Sophie’s presence as a producer is really strong in this track – she really went to town making a whole world for the song to live in. I loved listening to the different iterations of it walking through the park as lockdown was easing. It sort of made me feel nostalgic for a time I’m not sure I experienced which captured a particular flavour of the last few years for me. I really wanted to draw out some of the vulnerability of this song because I’ve always loved the energy of the original and felt like there was so much emotion to play with there.
You can check out GUTHRIE’s debut EP here. Purchase tickets to the launch show here.
