It’s been just under a year since Angie McMahon released her debut single “Slow Mover”, a track which landed a spot in the Triple J Hottest 100 and spurred on sold-out headline shows in Australia and the UK for the 24-year-old Melburnian singer-songwriter. Since then, she’s also toured in support of the likes of Father John Misty, Alanis Morissette, The Shins, Angus and Julia Stone, and enchanted festival crowds at St Jerome’s Laneway, Secret Garden,and NYE on the Hill.
On the verge of releasing her debut album, and with a national tour just around the corner, Angie chatted to us about the records that had a role in shaping her mesmeric output.
Bruce Springsteen — “Nebraska”
“Bruce has so many songs and albums that inspire me, but from beginning to end this one feels untouchable. Most of it was recorded in his bedroom on a four-track cassette recorder, and when they took those demos to the band to build on, they couldn’t recreate the raw magic that he’d already put down. I’m so glad they kept this as the album, because the way it sounds inspires me to be brave when I make decisions about recording. “Atlantic City” is my favourite song. It makes me feel like I’m on a road somewhere in the country, and not in my room probably stressing about something tiny. These songs take you somewhere else.”
Big Thief — “Masterpiece”
“I uncovered this one slowly — first just listening to “Paul” a lot, and then dipping into the rest of it, until at one point it was all I ever felt like listening to/ I didn’t want to hear anyone but Adrianne Lenker play guitar, and now when I’m writing songs I think about her musicality and writing style, and when I’m recording them I think about the beautiful world created by ‘Masterpiece’ and their other album, ‘Capacity’. I have complete tunnel vision love for this record.”
Lianne La Havas — “Is Your Love Big Enough?”
“When this album pulled me in, I hadn’t found anything that I loved in a long time, but Lianne‘s melodies twisted around in my head and inspired me to write. I was at a really basic standstill, playing the same pop songs all the time, and she pulled me out of that space. I’m a sucker for a piano ballad, and “Gone” felt like a strange and beautiful new baby in a family I thought I knew really well. Her guitar sound made me want to learn about guitar brands for the first time in my whole life — till then, I’d only ever been turned off by the blokey internet gear chats, but she is so cool and had this beautiful way of playing, and I was a teenage student who started seeing a later version of myself. Obsessing over this record felt like a challenge to write interesting songs, to be a better vocalist, to know my way around my instrument more, to try harder at being musical.”
KD Lang — ‘Hymns of the 49th Parallel’
“This one came into my life early. Mum and dad had it in the car, and it felt like the only album to exist. KD Lang covers her favourite Canadian songwriters, and I hadn’t heard a Joni Mitchell song, or Leonard Cohen‘s “Hallelujah”, or Neil Young, until I heard her sing these songs. For years, I just thought she had written them, and I would always sing along, wishing I could sound as smooth and dynamic. This version of “Hallelujah” will always be my favourite one.”
Angel Olsen — “My Woman”
“I had never listen to Angel Olsen until I went to Meredith Festival in 2016 and saw her with her band, and it was when they played “Sister” that I realised I had a lot of fangirling to come. Couldn’t figure out how she’d taken my exact thoughts and laid them out in her eight-minute song, ending it by singing over and over the line “All my life I thought I’d change” (same), and then her band just throws these enormous melodies around that soar over your head like a symphony fucking orchestra. So yeah, I went home and devoured the album. I often read about Angel being a badass and the interesting things that she has to say in her interviews, and watch videos of her band perform, and those are some of the key things that make me want to keep developing my writing and my thinking and contribute to narratives the way that she’s contributed to mine.”
ANGIE MCMAHON TOUR DATES
Thursday 6th September — The Forum — Melbourne, VIC
Friday 7th September – The Triffid (LIC/AA) – Brisbane, QLD
Saturday 8th September – The Metro Theatre – Sydney, NSW
Friday 14th September — Rosemount Hotel (LIC/AA) — Perth, WA
Saturday 15th September — Uni Bar (LIC/AA) — Adelaide, SA
Listen to Angie’s new single “Helpless” here:
Photo by Rhea Caldwell.