Upcoming singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Brigitte Bardini has today shared her wistful new single Heartbreaker, a hypothetical journey into the terrifying possibility of losing a loved one. Heartbreaker is the third taste of the self-produced forthcoming debut album from Brigitte Bardini, Stellar Lights, set for release on August 30.

Heartbreaker is lush and sprawling, just like previous singles Aphrodite and Wild Ride, but is also quite an upbeat offering from Brigitte, showcasing a diversity and artistic maturity beyond her years. Taking inspiration from iconic artists such as PJ Harvey, Thom Yorke and sonic masters Air, Heartbreaker pulses and pulls, pairing soft, ever-present synths with sharp beatmaking and Brigitte’s idiosyncratic vocal. Reflecting on the inspiration behind the track, Brigitte says, “Heartbreaker is about having something very special in your life and exploring that hypothetical situation in your mind that you might lose that thing. A lyric like ‘I don’t want to lose my future to my past’ really captures that anxiety of lingering on past events and catastrophising about future events, and just trying to do my best to live in the moment.”

The video for Heartbreaker takes the sonic atmosphere that Brigitte has created and builds an entire visual world around it, one which glows in shades evocative of a dream-like world. Explaining the meaning of the creative choices behind the video, Brigitte reflects, “Wilk made this storyboard for the video within the world of the album which felt like the most natural approach to the clip…

The video takes on an approach that pulls from the way we remember our dreams, having that non-linear, otherworldly feeling that resembles reality with an obscured view.” Heartbreaker is just a taste of the depth and intricacy presented on Stellar Lights. Self-written and self-produced, excluding six tracks that were co-produced with Adam Calaitzis at Toyland Studios in Melbourne, Stellar Lights is a truly impressive debut from Brigitte, and demonstrates a musical understanding that is sure to impress. Gentle, inviting and engaging arrangements of synths, throbbing percussion and whimsical vocal melodies abound – at its heart, Stellar Lights is a beautiful mystery. Chords change like colours in the evening sky and voices whisper just beyond the reach of meaning.

Reflecting on the inspiration behind Stellar Lights, Brigitte explains, “Stellar Lights is mainly themed around embracing life. While being coming-of-age, it focuses on life’s fragilities, reflecting upon and learning from every moment and moving forward. I feel that I took this approach to my writing for this album when I experienced a very vivid apocalyptic dream that felt like it woke me up to how fragile life is and how advantageous it is to embrace all of its elements with as little judgement as possible. The words chosen for the title, ‘Stellar Lights’ are very much inspired by this apocalyptic dream, where shooting stars were colliding and meteors falling to earth as I was watching from a courtyard at night.”

With an entire debut album already on the way, it’s exciting to think what might be next for this young artist. Musing over the possibilities, Brigitte says, “Once Stellar Lights is released I feel like there will be vast space for exploration. I’ll have a chance to focus more solely on live performance and having shared experiences with an audience will be extremely special. It’ll also allow for exploration in how I approach my writing and whether the music changes in nature and/or soundscape depending on what will pique my interests at that time.”

Heartbreaker is out now. Stellar Lights is set for release on August 30 and will be available digitally, and on CD and vinyl

A Twenty-Two Letter Phrase, the artistic project of renowned Australian musician Angus Gardiner, has today released the compelling, melancholy new single and video Predisposition, a heavily metaphorical, contemplative song about getting a second lease on life, feeling new, and having a complicated relationship with your old self. The track precedes the debut EP for A Twenty-Two Letter Phrase, Just Tell Me What I Gotta Do out September 30, and written through the midst of grieving a close friend. The EP release will be celebrated with an intimate live performance streamed to the A Twenty-Two Letter Phrase YouTube channel on October 1.

Predisposition evokes indie folk influences such as Laura Marling alongside the more symphonic art-rock of Rufus Wainwright, as Angus deftly weaves phrases amongst soft, pervasive acoustic guitar. Ultimately the song swells into a climactic crescendo, encompassing the wonder and confusion that permeate the lyrics of this song. Unresolved, leaving the audience pondering, considering, the song then slows to silence. It’s a stunning, thought-provoking journey, as Angus explains, “I wrote this song after reading the book Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor E Frankl. My psychologist recommended it and it was a transformative thing for me to read at a time when I was really struggling. Predisposition is a song that came out of quite deep existential feelings about what it means to exist, persist, and make the world how you might like it to be while accepting that it won’t ever be that way. Hopefully there are enough layers of metaphor that it means different things to different people.”

The video clip for Predisposition is a colourful, DIY affair, directed by Alex Bennison, and features Angus’ typewriter, punching out the lyrics to the track and overlayed over close, warm shots of Angus performing the song. The clip is saturated, vibrant, psychedelic, as Angus describes, “The clip feels very familiar to me since it was filmed in my apartment and neighbourhood, and features my trusty typewriter, which I use to keep a daily diary. I also did all the lyric writing on that typewriter. I love the mechanical feel and the physical and tactile routine of slotting the paper in, aligning the margins, and bashing out one letter at a time, with no backspace.”

The EP Just Tell Me What I Gotta Do is about as intimate and expressive as music can get. From the deep, cleansing breath of opening track Either Way to the piano-led, softly intense closer Working Silently, Just Tell Me What I Gotta Do is a Jeff Buckley-esque offering, a deeply sophisticated collection of masterful songwriting from a mature, thoughtful songwriter. Reflecting on the process of creating the EP, Angus says, “In 2018 my best friend and bandmate Luke Liang passed away and I was shattered by grief and trauma. Making this EP has mapped and reflected some of my paths as I have begun to understand and process that event. I think I am still some way from what might be described as ‘healing’ and I don’t really like using that word but it is a gradual process and I do make progress every day. Some of the songs, like Again, Either Way are quite raw and reactive and others are more metaphorical… I tried to distill things from a few different perspectives, but Just Tell Me What I Gotta Do is about living your life with fierce intention whilst accepting that there are things about the world that you simply cannot change.”

Angus Gardiner, the accomplished musician behind A Twenty-Two Letter Phrase, is a well-known session player for massive Australian acts Montaigne, Jack River, Jarryd James, E^ST, Dean Lewis and more, as well as a founding member of the hugely popular band Papa vs Pretty.

Gardiner set his intentions for the project early, insighting “I wanted to stretch myself and for the work to be truly reflective of me and uncollaborative/individualistic after years of collaborating, if that meant there were some flaws, then so be it.” And he has pulled it off, playing every instrument on the release himself (except for drums), mixing and mastering it himself and even creating the cover artwork. Drawing on years of practice, of mastering his craft, this EP is a true demonstration of both considered, perceptive songwriting but also a keen, skilled sense of musicianship. These songs are something incredibly special – heartwrenching, devastating, yet calm, open and empathetic. This EP is a comforting must-listen for anyone who has ever felt deep grief.

Angus Frederick Gardiner is A Twenty-Two Letter Phrase. Predisposition is out today, the EP Just Tell Me What I Gotta Do is out September 30.