Angie McMahon is a star that’s been burning brightly from the start. The Melbourne singer-songwriter seems to know how to find just the right balance of vulnerability and confidence, throttling her gritty voice into melodies that hurl emotion into massive choruses. Both of her two released singles, “Slow Mover” and “Missing Me,” have that special feeling on first listen. It’s in the build, the intensity of the punchy guitars, and the energy poured into every inch of the tracks where that something extra really shines and frankly… smolders.
When I was in Melbourne last month, Angie was away on a recording retreat outside of the city. She kindly took along a disposable camera and snapped some pictures for us in her unique setup. Below she’s made a playlist of songs listened to during the retreat for inspiration and given a little written insight about what made the session memorable for her. Together, the pieces paint a vividly warm picture of a not-so-quiet getaway and future recordings that are sure to impress.
“These are pictures from a week in Harcourt, a country town about an hour out of Melbourne. I spent a week up there with Alex O’Gorman, who is producing my album with me, and who also plays bass in the band. Our drummer, Lachlan O’Kane, came and joined us for the last few days, and together we went stir crazy in this wonderful house. It’s an AirBnB that used to be a Scout Hall, and the high ceilings make for a really beautiful sound. We spent 7 days tracking vocals, guitars, drums, bass, trumpets, synths, random percussion, rain fall, cockatoos and whatever else the mics picked up. We had 5 songs to finish, and each one was really different. We listened to a lot of music while thinking about the sounds we were trying to get, like nerding out over Bon Iver and then recording an emotional trumpet line, or listening to a Springsteen’s Nebraska album and then recording a song really lo-fi.
We wanted it to feel like home, so started taking polaroids and hanging them on the wall, and spread all of our gear out across the floor to create our own studio. Alex did such a wonderful job, and I’m so grateful to him for capturing all these different parts of the record. I think the things I’m going to remember about this week are sitting by the fireplace, gentle orange light, the sound of screaming cockatoos going past the window, and Alex’s face every time that happened during a take. Some of those we kept in, so you can hear the birds on the recordings, and some of the cars that drive past the house. It was a really special space to be creative in.”
Look and listen for a peek into Angie’s recording retreat!
