Happy Axe is Canberra-based multi-instrumentalist and musical polymath Emma Kelly, who weaves layers of vocals, violin and musical saw into a vibrant fever dream on debut album Dream Punching.
Listening to Dream Punching is a hypnotic experience. Deft melodies and atmospheric loops cascade and fold themselves around you. Entrancing patterns form and then dissolve.
“This music for me ties into memories of my childhood,” says Emma. “I think my parents liked plants more than people, but that meant we always lived in these really beautiful faraway places - like Belmore Falls, a rainforest-like place way out in a national park. It was the most beautiful untouched place where you could walk to these amazing waterfalls and bits of forest that nobody else knew about or ever went near. It intrigues me to think about that time, and when I write music it often takes me back there. It’s a magical feeling to bring the past back into the now.”
Emma lists Debussy and Moderat as equal inspirations, alongside provocative auteurs such as Björk and David Lynch. The album’s organic sonic landscapes comfortably sit alongside the earthy experimentation of Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith or even the ethereal pop of Julianna Barwick - but Emma has developed a personal and unique sound all of her own.
“For me, this album is also about wanting to challenge the everyday patterns and expectations that are put on us by society and sometimes by the people in our lives. I want to invite adventurousness or even a kind of defiance - a confidence to break out of expectations and do or be something different.”
Release: Spirit Level, July 18th, 2018
Words: Spirit Level
Listening to Dream Punching is a hypnotic experience. Deft melodies and atmospheric loops cascade and fold themselves around you. Entrancing patterns form and then dissolve.
“This music for me ties into memories of my childhood,” says Emma. “I think my parents liked plants more than people, but that meant we always lived in these really beautiful faraway places - like Belmore Falls, a rainforest-like place way out in a national park. It was the most beautiful untouched place where you could walk to these amazing waterfalls and bits of forest that nobody else knew about or ever went near. It intrigues me to think about that time, and when I write music it often takes me back there. It’s a magical feeling to bring the past back into the now.”
Emma lists Debussy and Moderat as equal inspirations, alongside provocative auteurs such as Björk and David Lynch. The album’s organic sonic landscapes comfortably sit alongside the earthy experimentation of Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith or even the ethereal pop of Julianna Barwick - but Emma has developed a personal and unique sound all of her own.
“For me, this album is also about wanting to challenge the everyday patterns and expectations that are put on us by society and sometimes by the people in our lives. I want to invite adventurousness or even a kind of defiance - a confidence to break out of expectations and do or be something different.”
Release: Spirit Level, July 18th, 2018
Words: Spirit Level
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