STELLA BRIDIE’S DEBUT EP SPEAKING TERMS
Captured by Liv Fleming
Fans of Ethel-Cain, should stand to attention for Speaking Terms.
Lord I wish Stella Bridie’s EP was out last time I was heartbroken. Speaking Terms is the type of music that makes me sad I’m not sad. I guess it’s time I take heartbreak applications, apply within.
The Melbourne/Naarm based singer-songwriter has entrusted her emotional vulnerabilities, but also her indignant confidence, in us by gracing us with this debut four track EP today. Bridie, with two single releases behind her, is known for weaving magic and gold into her lyrics. She is here to examine the unhappy aspects of a relationship—both external and internal—and has a special knack for capturing even the smallest, quietest moments with profound clarity and depth. Collaborating with Gab Strum (Japanese Wallpaper) was the way to go here. His production on the EP is thick and dynamic, with levels that ebb and flow, entangled in Bridie’s words. This is a style Strum has mastered and made evident in his work with Mallrat, Jack River, Sesame Girl and the likes.
You can (and should) already listen to the title track ‘Organ Donor’, alongside the album’s second track, ‘He Didn’t Mean it’. Joining the squadron with the full release will be ‘Headlights’ and ‘Six Foot Drop’.
‘Organ Donor’, in its short and snappy ways, is a meditation on the pressures of an ending relationship, trying to fight for what is no longer there, and losing yourself in the process. It’s one of those songs that features a grand juxtaposition between sound and feel. The transition into ‘Headlights’ begins the EP’s decrescendo into softer, slower, yet just as powerful melodies. ‘He Didn’t Mean It’ points a finger at the all-too-familiar justification of “boys will be boys” that tries to hang a painting over the hole punched in the wall. The track also calls out the representation of women in media–which we should all do a bit more of. It beckons us to embrace the potential discomfort of standing up for what is right.
Stella questions her own hard-wiring in ‘Six Foot Drop’. She makes you think about the cocktail of you that is moulded by every relationship and the tiny changes they’ve caused in you, ones you don’t even notice at the time. Then you step back and you’re stuck with a version of yourself you don’t even know.
‘Isn’t there some higher power to force me to become more trusting - I guess that you just got unlucky - must be a fault in my wiring. That I found a way to stay angry.’
With a bridge that is all-too-relatable for someone of the likes of me, this track puts a lid on the EP with gentle punctuation.
It’s not often a fresh artist has the wordsmith prowess to bring narrative to life with both humour to cut through the pain and hurt to sit with it. Every choice in this beauty is intentional—from every word to every blank space, with imagery so vivid you can see her thoughts like the writing on the wall. Stella is here, and—lucky for us—she’s here to stay. Melbournians can catch her at her EP launch show, December 12th at The Old Bar.