With her signature dreampop feel, Bridget Sharp captivates hearts and minds with her intricate, ethereal sound on ‘Laundry Day’.
Despite having only released her second solo single, Bridget Sharp has one of the most authentically beautiful voices in the industry. Her mixture of soulful, raw lyricism and soothing pop vocals complement the synth-y dream pop rhythms and melodies of her music beautifully.
Fresh from making her solo debut with her euphoric pop-empowerment anthem ‘Overgrown’ last year, the Geelong indie-pop songstress and frontwoman of art-rock fusion band Dandecat has come back in full force, showcasing growth and an openness with her storytelling with her sophomore release, ‘Laundry Day’.
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Having officially ushered in her arrival as a soft pop phenomenon with ‘Overgrown’, garnering much deserved praise and attention from fans and local critics alive, ‘Laundry Day’ arrives to bolster her name even further, building upon the resume of intricate, homely and heartfelt songwriting that Sharp is capable of.
Tinged with pastel-coloured chords, dreamy vocals and visceral emotion, Sharp has outdone herself on an ambient song that showcases her breathtakingly soft, delicate vocals against a subtle and nuanced whirlwind of ethereal instrumentation and production.
With a natural storytelling ability at the forefront, supported by lush soundscapes, raw lyrics, sunkissed beats, homely melodies, and entracing vocals, ‘Laundry Day’ has an easily listenable and carefully crafted pop ambience that fits perfectly into the contemporary mainstream, but it’s also distinctive, natural vibrant and a platform for Sharp, as a singer/songwriter, to leave a mark of her own.
With tender nods to the likes of Maggie Rogers, King Princess and Asha Jefferies, Sharp draws inspiration from a melting pot of songwriter influences like Allysha Joy, Matt Corby and Holly Humberstone, artists renowned for using songwriting as the medium to make sense of the world around them.
An overwhelming surrender unlike any we’ve heard all year, ‘Laundry Day’ is a track spawned by the emotional turmoil of reflecting a past lover, with Sharp suggesting the need to break the cycle by starting with something as simple as the songs’ title.
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As she describes, “‘Laundry Day’ came from a place of emotional recalibration. I was desperately wanting to move on from this relationship, yet it seemed to continuously haunt my thoughts, both good and bad. I sought closure, tried catching up a few times to be friends, which only made it hurt more as it seemed so easy for them to move on.
“I knew in order to cleanse my mind that the change had to come from me – as no amount of time was healing the wound. So, I started trying to accept the weight of how I was feeling, telling myself that it was powerful to be vulnerable and ok to feel a bit behind in life.”
Beginning in 2019, as Sharp reflected on the end of a long term relationship, the track evolved into the pulsing anthem that it is today, filled with a vulnerability and strength not heard from her before.
“The title came first – as I liked the idea of writing a song to do with the accomplishment that sometimes is doing your laundry. This was closely followed by the chorus – and honestly seemed to just write itself – all of those words just flowed together once I pictured what laundry could mean in the context of the song. Undressing, stripping back to nothing, changing clothes – connecting me to how I was feeling about the breakup. I wanted a clean, new start.
“It’s taken me this long to release it as it was a song that felt deeply personal. Admitting that you’re not doing well after a breakup can take a lot of power – because it feels like it meant more to you than it did to them.”
She sings, Laundry Day, got to start again. I’ve grown tired, my mind resides in grey water.
Spin me round, I don’t need you to put me down, I’m already on the ground.
It’s for the best that I’m completely undressed. But it’s still you I see, start again, throw in the towel and wash my body.
Blending weightless melodies with meaningful, arresting emotion, Sharp proves there is strength in vulnerability, power in making your feelings known.
A breath of fresh air, demanding reflection of a grateful kind, Sharp once again turned to the creative team from her debut to truly bring the song to life. With Melbourne (Naarm) magician Sam Phay (Eliott, Tia Gostelow, Tyne-James Organ) taking care of producing and powerhouse Peter Holz (Gang of Youths, Vance Joy, Samantha Jade) doing the mixing and mastering, Sharp was able to morph her already well-crafted song into a satisfying union between music and lyrics, marking it out as a cut above the average viral pop hit.
“Both Sam and Pete were able to perfectly encapsulate the world which ‘Laundry Day’ represents. I went to Sam initially with the brief of creating a “washy” world to represent all the themes which I’d written into the piano and lyrics. He managed to add elements to the song that not only supported the original song, but elevated it,” Sharp explains.
“Handing it onto Pete, he just levelled everything fabulously – drawing the most emotion out of the track.”
Ethereal and atmospheric and a triumphant return that is full of heart and passion, Sharp’s latest output of dream pop music is as intimate, spiritually energizing and unapologetically vulnerable as it gets.
Listen to ‘Laundry Day’ – the song we didn’t know we needed – here and keep up with the latest from Bridget Sharp here.
This article was made in partnership with Bridget Sharp.
