Live Review: Music To Isolate To: Vera Blue

25 May 2020 | 4:30 pm | Emma Jones

The next artist to take over our Music To Isolate To playlist is the incomparable Vera Blue, who takes us through some of her go-to iso tunes.

With the ongoing and ever-evolving COVID-19 pandemic, it’s a crazy world out there right now, so it’s never been more important to band together. Self-isolation and social distancing are two of the most effective tools we have as a society to help fight COVID-19, but they’re also very difficult to undertake and they have very real, long-lasting consequences on the music and arts industries — some of which we aren’t even aware of yet. Our artists and our industry are already feeling the ripple effect, and things are only going to get worse before they get better.

Because of this, it’s up to us to use what we’ve got at our disposal to best represent and amplify our community and continue to tell artists’ stories. Purple Sneakers has always fiercely represented Australian music and our team are some of the best writers in the country, so we’re going to use our platform to continue doing what we do best: connect our community with the artists we love, and support artists by promoting their incredible music.

Music To Isolate To is an ongoing artist-curated playlist series by Purple Sneakers. We’ve asked some of our favourite artists ever to provide us with the ten songs they’re listening to while in isolation, and provide some commentary for their selections. We’ll be running these for the foreseeable future every Monday and Thursday, and you can follow the Spotify playlist which will be updated on these days right HERE. The idea is to not only promote artists who are curating the playlists, but to also promote those songs that mean a lot to them whether they be longtime classics or fresh new releases.

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The next in our Music To Isolate To series is VERA BLUE. With one of the most beautiful voices in modern Australian music, Vera Blue has made a name for herself thanks to her ambitious approach to her music and her complete refusal to ever be in the same place for too long. From her early days with songs like 'Hold' or 'Settle' to more recently with her dark, ominous 2019 banger 'The Way That You Loved Me', she continually sets herself apart from the pack with her impeccable songwriting, her infectious personality and her brilliant vocals. She's collaborated with Flume on his smash, 'Rushing Back', as well as more recently with Louis The Child, and even though she's been quiet recently on the release front, she still holds a spot at the top thanks to the impact she has made with her impressive back catalogue. Also a serious force to be reckoned with in a live setting, she consistently gives everything her all whether its on stage or in the studio, and we cannot get enough. Read on to check out her isolation tunes, including some tracks from friends as well as songs she just can't get enough of.

It’s Love - Cosmos Midnight ft Matthew Young

Chill banger that gets me in the mood to be productive and do some spring cleaning. I’m a huge fan of Cosmos Midnight and they’re good friends of mine so whenever I hear their tracks I am taken back to backstage festival hangs and watching them play from FOH. Really missing festivals at the moment.

Lost In Yesterday - Tame Impala

I’m forever playing the air bass guitar and tapping my foot in isolation to this track! I love the trippy feels of his music, wasn’t surprised when he scored triple j's song of the decade, what a legend.

Sunrise - Alice Ivy ft Cadence Weapon

I've been a GIANT fan of Alice Ivy ever since she remixed my song Lady Powers. I’d never heard anything like it and since then I’ve been hooked to her sound. I dig the repetitive loops in this song and the way cadence talks of freedom, feeling positive, and having a good time. The kind of music everybody needs to hear right now. Keeps me smiling that's for sure.

Paradise - Golden Features / The Presets

If I’m feeling like listening to something a little darker I'll always crank Golden Features. My bestie is a huge fan too and would play his album SECT while we got ready for a night out at home when we used to live together. So many fun memories of my girlfriends and I exchanging songs that we’d discovered and playing them on the speaker system. I’ve also been lucky enough to write with Julian who is one half of the presets, and I had the best time and loved seeing how he worked in his studio.

Deja Vu - Lastlings

This song never gets old for me. I fell in love with Lastlings when I heard their song YOU in 2016, so I had them join me on one of my first headline tours. My boyfriend now does their live sound so I was lucky enough to watch their amazing set again when they toured around Australia with Rufus Du Sol last year. I know that this song and my trusty disco ball will have me covered when I’m at home and want to party in iso.

Fairies - TOTTY

The lead singer Kelly and I both admire each others music. I watched TOTTY play a bunch of shows on a tour they did with Skeggs! If I’m in the mood to listen to something heavier but music that still holds a lot of lyrical and melodic emotion, I’ll listen to TOTTY. I love the tone of her voice blended with the heavy punky rock production of the band. I’ve always dreamed of being in a rock band so when I met Kel and saw her perform I was inspired! Head banging to potty in the kitchen while I cook probably isn’t the safest thing to do but hey YOLO.

I Think You’re Great - Alex the Astronaut

This song is my go to if I want to hear something light hearted, quirky and more organic especially If I’m in the mood to draw or get creative with some arts and crafts. Alex supported me on my regional tour last year, and I have some wonderful memories of her involving the audience for a sing along each show to this song. I miss that tour and I miss playing shows. Loved having her sweet and easy going energy around every day.

Lights Out - Odette

I love the raw emotion of the lyrics and raw production in her music, this song especially. She Is one of the most empowering women in the music industry for me and the tone of her voice is so beautiful and melodies that are rhythmic and interesting. This song makes me contemporary dance in the living room if I need to push out some blue emotions.

READY - Montaigne

I’m so fascinated by the different colours and tones to her voice. So much power and strength but then it can suddenly switch to a gentle delicate tone. This song makes me feel empowered when I’m feeling scared and uncertain of the future. Ive known Montagne for years now and she is one of the most intelligent, witty and caring people.

Chateau - Angus & Julia Stone

I love this song and I love these siblings. As soon as I heard Big Jet Plane and discovered them when I was a young teen I was hooked, covering almost every one of their songs, singing them at school or local weddings. Their music inspired me to write my own and from searching on YouTube videos of them I discovered my all time favourite artist Joni Mitchell from a cover Angus did of her song ‘River’. When I’m dreaming of travelling or being somewhere else I love to start with Chateau. It takes me away and brings back memories of being in Los Angeles or anywhere that i’d spent some time making music.

Introduction by Emma Jones

Image: Supplied

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