Upon the release of her debut album ‘Lover’, Australian bred George Maple who worked with the like of Flume to Snakeships, has shown her progression and has reached new heights with her passionate yet dark narrative.
The record is a series of intimate events that vividly shows the emotional shaping of her sound and artistry over 20-tracks, different depths of her most contrast emotions, Maple’s sculpted vocal hit a sense of unstable euph oria that saw her go on tour with Lorde on the Australian leg of her ‘Melodrama’ tour.
Taking the soothing essences of R&B mixed with her electronic ambiance and distinct vocal. She waves the line between comfort and unease smoothly, passion and pleasure, but in such a manner that makes her inner thoughts translate her signature sound.
Beginning with the up tempo ‘Sticks & Horses’ featuring GoldLink and Romancandy, showing her musical prowess and versatility.
Followed by songs like ‘Pain’, ‘Everybody Here Wants It’ and ‘Hold Me by the Waist’ she points the scope at her more vulnerable emotions showing her desirable talent of making you feel as she does.
Maple taps into the more prominent sound on the album “open therapy session, opening up uncomfortable truths and opening my eyes to the world” with her unique sound she drops us in the exhilarating soundwave of feelings. that gives an almost dark yet sensual cinematic visual to ‘Lover’.
How would you describe your style?
“Lover would probably sit somewhere in a love scene of an 80’s action movie.
Quite dark I guess, I like resonance, drama. I often use the phrase ‘80s strip club cinematic’ when describing the record sonically, perhaps that crosses over visually in some contexts. I like to work in chapters, so the energy of this record should breathe across many sonic and visual platforms.”
The project gracefully explores the conclusion that “intimacy exists in many forms, not simply romantic…
It can be the experience shared with a collaborator or a partner, or a friend. It’s the second when someone in your life enters the Pandoras box of your soul. It’s that dark vortex that tends to trigger every anxiety, fear, insecurity that you’ve held on to”
With early jazz and soul influences in her childhood in Northern Beaches in Sydney, from artists like Nina Simone and Eva Cassidy she mixes her many influence of pop culture and personal battles to give a insight at her prized possessions.
Which track do you hold closest to your heart on the new project and what is your favourite track if not the most sentimental and why?
“Hero. I wrote this in a state of distress. I thought my life was going up in flames. I didn’t realise it at the time but it was a reminder to myself allow things to just be, and that nothing is permeant and it really doesn’t matter that much. Learning to be OK with being vulnerable. I’m always singing about strength and empowerment and this track was about realising the power and beauty in fragility and being able to just be there with someone in the darkness.
It was after I filmed the Hero video. It was a confronting experience as I had to relive the experience over and over again in order to create the perfect performance and I felt a huge weight lift off my chest after it was complete. It felt as though I was letting go of the past, coming to terms with the losses and I felt ready for the next phase. I feel as though this really is chapter one.”
This project is a perfect representation of her mental and physical journey since the Vacant Space EP that released 2014, which had a similar aura of adventurous electronics and smokey ambience.
She shares her problems with her listeners in a way that would typically be uncomfortable in a captivating way allowing her listens to wash away they’re worries as she does song by song.
She explores new depths in her portrayal on this project, giving tasteful club-fillers next to songs that leave you captivated in your emotions.
How do you think your relationships and experiences have translated into your music in the last few years?
“I’ve always been very protective and caged when it comes to my heart and my art. I was in a relationship for most of the creation of this record and it ended towards it’s completion. I think my soul was in reality aching and trying to express itself and release the hurt and pain that had been carved into me from earlier times, that were being triggered in the relationship. I guess whilst it is an exploration of my own and other experiences, this record essentially is the rise and fall of my own romantic relationship to a certain extent.”
“How would you describe the 2 years you wrote this project and what effect did it have on you as an artist?
Turbulent. I’m a perfectionist and incredibly controlled / controlling in all aspects of my life. I don’t know if it’s my German heritage or it’s simply my nature, but I have always found it hard to deal with losing control. This record and everything that was attached to the process, has allowed me to open up my mind and heart in ways I could never even imagine. I feel as though I’ve removed all the unnecessary layers of fear and I’m operating from a real place of truth and empowerment. I feel creatively confident, strong and ready for the future. It really is wonderful. I’m’ sure that feeling will evolve and change but accepting the flow of everything has been a huge part of this ‘journey’ At times it was so rough dealing with the ins and outs of becoming a professional in the industry alongside relationships crumbling, and generally dealing with the growing pains associated with becoming an adult but it all seems worth it now.”
Visit her website here
Listen to her album “Lover” here
Photographer: Niklas Haze
Production: Lilian Büchner
Stylist: Kirubel Belay & Lilian Büchner
Hair & Make Up: Chantelle McDonald
