Van Fleur, a queer, neurodiverse, independent artist based on Awabakal Country in Newcastle, Australia, is just about to release her epic debut single, Mother Earth.
The track is an intricate – and intricate is an understatement – blend of neo-soul, nu jazz, Latin, and R&B influences. It will be the most impressively textured and immersive listening experience you have today.
Every element of Van Fleur’s artistry showcases a stunning level of maturity—jaw-dropping, to put it plainly. The professionalism and expertise on display within the intro itself is remarkable. It’s no surprise she delved so deeply into the layering process, given her voice itself is an incredibly versatile instrument. Her lyricism is equally striking: haunting, introspective, and steeped in beautifully meaningful storytelling.
The song takes unexpected yet seamless turns, reflecting its variety of influences, but never feels chaotic or overproduced. Instead, it retains a cohesive groove that evolves naturally, avoiding stagnation or predictability. The production demonstrates an admirable restraint, allowing each meticulously crafted layer to shine in isolation while giving her voice the space to breathe and resonate to maximum effect. Van Fleur has set an incredibly high bar with her debut, and this release deserves widespread recognition.
A unique sonic landscape
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Mother Earth captures an ethereal and sultry soundscape, blending silky vocals with trance-inducing grooves and playful instrumentals. Van Fleur describes the inspiration behind the song as a deeply personal and magical experience. “Mother Earth was inspired by a magical moment I had on Gumbaynggirr Country on the north-east coast of Australia, at a place called The Promised Land. It was a super hot summer’s day, icy cold fresh water trickled down the creek leading to a beautiful waterhole. I was sat upon the rocky water’s edge with a friend, eating fruit, smoking rose petal spun doobies, listening to bossa nova. I was going through a breakup at the time and found solace in journaling. The lyrics just fell out of me and before I knew it I had written almost the entirety of the song. I left feeling restored and inspired, with immense gratitude for nature and its healing powers. This track is a super special one that I feel very connected to.”
Crafted with meticulous detail
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The creation of Mother Earth highlights Van Fleur’s versatility and dedication as a producer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. Out of 184 tracks layered into the composition, Van Fleur wrote, produced, arranged, recorded, and performed 181 of them, with live drums contributed by Cale Jay Labbe. She explains her meticulous approach, saying, “It took 184 layers for this one… haha oops. More is more, right? Once it’s finished, I send it off to my good friend and engineer, Healey Olsen, to mix and master.”
Van Fleur’s creative process is equally intentional and sensory. “My creative practice always starts with setting up a beautiful environment. For me, creation is a full sensory experience. I light incense and candles, choose a colour to program my lights to and close my bedroom door. Creating a cosy space is a must. Then I open up a new Logic project and tinker. Zero judgement, I just play and experiment. Eventually, at some point during this process I get into the flow state. This is when I feel my body start to tingle, there are no thoughts, nothing else in the world exists except me, my instruments and computer. This is where the magic happens. I usually intuitively start with a bassline or chords using my MIDI keyboard, then build upon these layers. Then I start humming and find a melody that feels right. Once that is set in stone I add lyrics, which for this song happened to already be written!”
Van Fleur has big dreams and they’re definitely achievable
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With Mother Earth as her starting point, Van Fleur has her sights set on the future. Following this release, she plans to work on a series of singles and eventually compile them into a debut album. “After the release of this track I will work on completing two or three more tracks to release as singles. I currently have around 10 tracks I am planning to collate into an album and a few hundred demos sitting in the ether that might see the light of day down the line. I’m taking it step by step and seeing where the wind takes me. Music creation and performing is my entire world, so irregardless of how long it takes my ADHD riddled brain to complete these things, I am here for the long haul. I have ridiculously big dreams and tangible plans to make it happen, so this is truly a tiny little taste of what’s to come. We shall see…”
Mother Earth will be available on streaming platforms from November 22. For more details, visit Van Fleur’s linktree here.
