The millisecond your ears tune into the airy wonderment of Bumpy’s timbre, you’ll be hooked.
It actually needs to be heard to be believed (see: the wow-factor vocal runs in her latest single, Hide & Seek!). This Naarm/Melbourne-based artist’s interpretive ability is also top tier; goosebump-inducing, in fact. Bumpy fronts the neo-soul outfit Squid Nebula as well and her self-produced debut solo EP is intoxicating – we’re talking Martina Topley-Bird-level artistry.
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Opener Waiting Game is dynamically intricate and effortlessly classy in a Rebirth Of Cool compilation kinda way. Meandering guitar noodling opens the poignant, strings-enhanced Return Home:
“I feel those stories that we couldn’t speak of/ And I feel your power flowing through my blood/ But I don’t know my native tongue…” – Bumpy truly embodies her work while also demonstrating extraordinary melodic intelligence. Measured and understated at first, Leave It All Behind satisfyingly drip-feeds instrumental parts – one at a time – until we’re carried away by the synergetic full-band arrangement. Playful closer Hide & Seek ducks, weaves and soars – inspired, ever-shifting and jazz-infused.
The latest recipient of Music Victoria’s Archie Roach Foundation Award For Emerging Talent, Bumpy sounds like liberation. Releasing her Morning Sun EP the day after Survival Day is a deliberate move from this proud Noongar woman.
Label: Astral People/ [PIAS]
Release date: January 27
