Alt-pop powerhouse Georgia Fields delivers the gold yet again, with her slow-building, fierce-hearted single Tigress – out on all streaming platforms Thursday 8 September.
Opening with a haunting howl and a vast, propulsive rhythm, Tigress blends punchy drum-pad samples with live kit, evoking a hint of buoyant 90s nostalgia amidst her now signature art-pop sound. Fields’ distinctive vocal oozes an understated charm – at once close and vulnerable, then rearing up on its hind legs in a powerfully commanding wail. Pulsing synths give way to a reverie of rippling Omnichord, as Fields beckons the listener to leave the familiarity of “the city and the street lights”, and head out into the wild terrain of new love.
Brimming with effortless, radio-ready hooks and an instantly singable chorus, Tigress has all the hallmarks of pure pop ascendancy. And yet it started as a humble tribute to two friends.
“I wrote Tigress as a gift for my mates Holly and Lauren – essentially this song is their love story”, the singer-songwriter explains. “At some point I started slipping the song into my live set, and I began to get comments pretty consistently about Tigress after each show. It felt like the story went beyond Holly and Lauren, and became something more transcendent: the vulnerability yet ferociousness of new love, and how that evokes a Tiger-hearted devotion.”
Tigress is the fourth single from Fields’ forthcoming album Hiraeth, out in November. Produced by drummer/multi-instrumentalist Josh Barber (Gretta Ray; Gotye), the record takes its title from a Welsh word with no direct translation, referring to a profound sense of nostalgia or grief for the lost places of your past. From themes of motherhood, infidelity and death, to rapturous love songs and anthems of healing – at its core, Hiraeth is an album about the many languages of longing.
Fields and producer Josh Barber played almost all the instruments across the album, with Jules Pascoe (Jazz Party; Husky) contributing bass guitar. And on Tigress, Fields enlisted the help of an old friend – in the from of her Casiotone MT-500.
“For years I’ve been touring with this very idiosyncratic, 90s Casio keyboard. It’s not much longer than an A3 sheet of paper and it’s a temperamental little beast, but I love it to pieces”, Fields laughs. “When I presented Tigress to Josh during the recording sessions, I was playing this really busy strumming pattern on my guitar, and there wasn’t a lot of room sonically for any other elements. Josh suggested we strip it right back to single strums – to lean into a sense of expansiveness. Then, to fill out the harmonic structure of the song, we brought in my trusty Casio with is menagerie of quirky 90s sounds”, she recalls. “I couldn’t stop smiling”.
Tigress is out on all streaming platforms on Thursday 8 September.
This project is supported by the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria, and the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body.
IMAGES
Exclusive images available on request
Photography: Wilk
Hair + Make-up: Harriet O’Donnell
Wearing: Zimmerman
PRESS QUOTES
“Georgia Fields dreams in fantastic Technicolour…. Irrepressible pop. ★★★★”
– The Sydney Morning Herald
“A voice you simply cannot un-hear… The evocative songstress paints entire worlds.”
– Frankie Magazine
“There is something wonderfully experimental about the way in which Georgia and her musical cohorts jettison a song into the creative stratosphere.”
– Beat Magazine
“A magnetic showing of fearless art-pop and searing vulnerability.”
– Ramona Magazine
“This is a glorious and edgy indie pop single that teases the ears, it softens as it builds with Georgia’s stunning vocals shining throughout the restrained and cleverly composed track.”
– Skope Mag
“Holding My Hands Out is a quiet anthem.”
– Music Feeds
“Georgia's vocals take the lead dynamically as they dance between sincere and soft, to powerful and soul-moving. Beautifully composed and delivered between gritty and dainty moments, Holding My Hands Out is a testament to Georgia’s abilities as a songwriter and a vocalist.”
– Pilerats
“She possesses a powerful pop voice that’s at once forceful and elegant, and on Holding My Hands Out, her vocal control of the song is supreme.”
– Tone Deaf
“Holding My Hands Out is less an indie-pop track than a carefully layered piece of sonic art. Each addition of an instrument is a brush stroke… Georgia’s vocals range from a breathy caress to soaring dominance.”
– The Point Music News
“Holding My Hands Out is an art-pop kaleidoscope.”
– Sense Music Media
“Intelligent, seductive and touched by a vividly-blooming magic.”
– Autumn Roses
“It’s in poised vocal and muscular percussion where Fields is in her element – when she’s off the leash yet achieving the balance of melancholy.”
– Rhythms Magazine
“Her new album Astral Debris is her finest, most expansive work yet.”
– The Herald Sun
ARTIST BIOGRAPHY
Georgia Fields’ enduring art-pop alchemy has earned her a reputation as one of Melbourne’s most beloved singer-songwriters.
Fields’ live show is chameleonic. Solo, she moves deftly from electric guitar, vintage keyboards and live looping. When joined by her 4-piece band of multi-instrumentalists, she conjures a mesmerising spell of indie-rock swagger. Ever the sonic shapeshifter, Fields can also be seen accompanied by her string section, The Andromeda Quartet.
Career highlights include performances at Melbourne Recital Centre; Queenscliff Music Festival; State Library Victoria; ACMI; Apollo Bay Music Festival; Melbourne Fashion Week; Festival of Voices Tasmania; Brisbane Powerhouse; National Gallery of Victoria; and Mullum Music Festival – amongst others.
Fields’ third album Hiraeth is due for release 17 November 2022. Inspired by the Welsh word with no direct translation, the album explores grief, love and “a profound longing for a home you cannot return to, as it no longer exists.”
Hiraeth ushers the listener into a widescreen vision of melodic, artful pop. Fields' vocal brings to mind the piercing, understated clarity of Metals-era Feist and the shoulders-back power-stance of Sharon van Etten.
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Fields first made her mark on the Melbourne music scene in 2007, with her EP Drama on the High Seas of Emotion (over 500 CD covers lovingly up-cycled from vintage Little Golden Books). A string of festival shows followed, and in 2010 Fields released her debut self-titled album: a lush, orchestral-pop opus featuring her 15-piece ‘Mini-Indie-Orchestra (strings, brass, woodwind, tuned percussion, rhythm section, plus experimental sounds such as cordless drill and children’s toys). The debut LP was awarded Album of the Week for ABC Radio National and Beat Magazine, and saw her perform on national television for SBS’ RocKwiz.
Fields’ sophomore album Astral Debris was released in 2016 to critical acclaim – including a 4-star review in The Sydney Morning Herald, who described it as “alluring” and “irrepressible pop”. The Herald Sun hailed Astral Debris as “her finest, most expansive work yet”. Produced in collaboration with electronic artist/composer Tim Shiel, the album received airplay on Double J, ABC Radio National, and community radio across the country – in particular PBS FM and Triple R, who both included Astral Debris amongst their feature album shortlists.
In 2017, Fields presented Afloat, Adrift: a retrospective EP recorded live in collaboration with the Andromeda String Quartet. Raw and visceral, yet sweeping with an old-world romance, Afloat, Adrift features new string quartet versions of material spanning her 10-year career. Frankie Magazine premiered the release, proclaiming “Georgia Fields has a voice you simply cannot un-hear… The evocative songstress paints entire worlds.”
In 2020, Fields launched Mother Lode: an online community for musicians who are mothers. A direct response to the pandemic’s affect on both the arts sector and working mums, Mother Lode was established as a forum for musician-mothers to connect and share practical advice for maintaining a creative career (while parenting!) in a post-pandemic landscape.
CONTACT
Bookings
Emma Friday
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emmacfriday@gmail.com
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Emily Cheung
0402 227 890
emily@onthemappr.com