A slinky and witty ode to empowerment, the sassy new single ICK out today from Melbourne singer-songwriter Anya Alchemy balances sleek production with tongue-in-cheek charm; a resounding reminder to know your worth, coated in fearless indie alt-pop.
A creative chameleon of the highest order, Anya Alchemy entrances with her raw and authentic energy, and her latest outing ICK is no exception. Channelling inspiration from Doechii, Tyler The Creator and Miss Kannina on her new track, Anya Alchemy embraces audacious yet endearing swagger, while also capturing some of the worst types of personalities in song form, as she explains, “ICK is all about not lowering your standards for losers. I work at a pub to help pay for my artist project and I regularly serve the same characters in their 20s and beyond. The types that don’t say please or thank you, the types that complain about the prices of steak. They’re the worst and I think that they deserve their own moment, in song form.”
Working alongside her producer brother Jay Ferriere (Pez, 360), a la Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell, ICK ultimately found its origin after Anyapenned the song’s opening line “Gap teeth, mean streak”, with the sibling duo working through the night when magic struck. “Whilst at work I wrote down the line ‘Gap teeth, mean streak’ in my Notes app – thinking nothing of it,” shares Anya Alchemy. “Later in the week I went to my brother’s house to work on music, he played me this ridiculous beat and the words just kept pouring out. We spent the whole night tweaking the words so that they weren’t so ambiguous and by the end of the night we had our song. ICK is really different from anything I’ve ever written before.”
And while Anya teamed up with Matt Bartlem (Matt Corby, Jarryd James, Lastlings) for mixing, and GRAMMY-nominated Andrei Eremin (G Flip, Tash Sultana, Sampa The Great) for mastering duties, ICK was largely a family affair to bring to life. “I feel like Billie and Finneas are probably a lot nicer to each other than we are,” laughs Anya. “We’ve been writing together properly for close to 3-4 years and we work well in that I love words and melodies, and he loves beats and the sonic side of things. We both really want to make stuff that is iconic, either to other people or even just to us – our shared passion for music and creating is the driving force of this project. One day we’ll yell about how much we hate each other and threaten to leave the project and then the next day one of us will send the other a house that we’ll buy when we make it big. That’s the charm of working with family.”
An emerging singer-songwriter hailing from regional Victoria, Anya Alchemy has a diverse sound, bouncing between indie pop with country hues, hip hop and beyond, with her trademark rich, soulful vocals transcending and complementing the honest songwriting permeating at the core of her creations. From intimate acoustic ballads to soaring sassy hits, Anya Alchemy is as versatile and memorable as her namesake, both showcasing a depth of maturity far beyond her years and a commitment to her unbridled artistic integrity.
2024 has been a been a solid year for live shows for Anya, landing herself on the Hello Sunshine Festival lineup earlier this year alongside The Veronicas, Grinspoon, Bliss n Eso, as well as hitting the road to support Pierce Brothers and Boo Seeka amongst others, and with even more magnetic new material on the horizon, ICK marks the first of many new releases evolving from Anya Alchemy’s work. And if ICK is anything to go by; the upcoming new music is set to be nothing but pure musical alchemy.
ICK is out today, Friday December 6.
