Melbourne's understated answer to Florence and the Machine held an adoring crowd softly in the palm of her hand all night at Northcote Theatre.
And he thinks we could make it workBut only when he’s drunkYou think you could help me swimBut I’ve already sunk
McMahon’s unassuming, slightly awkward on-stage guise underscores her jagged guitar riffs and explosive vocal range so fluently that it’s easy to see why she’s quickly become one of Australia’s most popular contemporary singer-songwriters.
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Her lyricism is one of her most applauded attributes, thought-provoking but readily accessible, transposing you into her memories as you lose grasp of where her lyrics end and your own interpretations begin.
There is no shortage of excellent Australian indie-rock singer-songwriters who showcase great lyrical depth throughout their oeuvre, but McMahon’s voice forces her work front and centre, elevating it above so many of her peers with gut-wrenching emotional versatility.
Her on-stage persona – which seems totally authentic – doesn’t portray an artist who truly understands the power she possesses. Selling out the Northcote Theatre and the Metro in Sydney, she still seemed surprised when the crowd sang every line straight back at her.
But her music tells a different story. “I think on the first record I was really afraid of making something that wasn’t true to me, so I wanted to keep it quite simple,” she told us recently. “On this one, I felt a little bit more confident in who I am and what my vision was, so that meant that there was space to go deeper and bigger.”
Each of the four singles off her upcoming album Light, Dark, Light Again (October 27) are supremely confident in her vocal ability, her powerful guitar, the fluid jamming of her backing band. We, like everyone else in the audience, cannot wait to hear what’s next.
Pre-order the new record here.
