Music / Premieres
Track by Track:
The Bush - Ricotta
The Bush - Ricotta
Just over a year since their first show, autumnal-pop four-piece The Bush have shared Ricotta, a beautifully forlorn yet charming debut EP scattered with lyrical insight and delicate instrumentation.
Sonically, The Bush linger somewhere between Mazzy Star and Cat Power - ethereal vocals, arresting melodies and minimal yet fastidious arrangements. Their live show offers something of a juxtaposition to the melancholy that pervades much of the song writing, as their music is delivered with brazen and infectious playfulness. The Bush are a band that play seriously good songs non-seriously.
EP opener ‘Purple’ offers a poignant rumination on indecisiveness through thoughtful lyricism and tasteful instrumentation. Edith-Kenny Smith’s bass line bounces comfortably between the verse and the chorus, a seamless auditory link in the drum and guitar daisy chain. The thoughtful follow up ‘Doggy’ is a track underpinned by Averil Rayward’s ominous recurring guitar line that meanders in between and underneath eloquent lyrics. It’s a sorrowful slowburn not dissimilar to something you might find on a recent Bad Seeds record, and a crowd favourite.
Penultimate track ‘Cosmos’ is perhaps the Bush at their best - perceptive, discerning, mellifluous and harrowing all at once. It’s like listening to an aural meditation, not to mention the recurring four-part howl that has become a staple of their live show.
EP closer ‘I Sit Around’ is as understated as it is quietly anthemic. The communal “hey!” is reminiscent of Aldous Harding’s ‘Imagining My Man’, and serves as a joyfully simple culmination to a formidable debut release. These recordings encapsulate The Bush’s profound ability to be simultaneously despondent and uplifting, without hiding from the fact that they are four friends playing music for the love of it.
To give some background to the EP, we caught up with Bella Walker and Madeline Wright to get their thoughts on each track.
EP opener ‘Purple’ offers a poignant rumination on indecisiveness through thoughtful lyricism and tasteful instrumentation. Edith-Kenny Smith’s bass line bounces comfortably between the verse and the chorus, a seamless auditory link in the drum and guitar daisy chain. The thoughtful follow up ‘Doggy’ is a track underpinned by Averil Rayward’s ominous recurring guitar line that meanders in between and underneath eloquent lyrics. It’s a sorrowful slowburn not dissimilar to something you might find on a recent Bad Seeds record, and a crowd favourite.
Penultimate track ‘Cosmos’ is perhaps the Bush at their best - perceptive, discerning, mellifluous and harrowing all at once. It’s like listening to an aural meditation, not to mention the recurring four-part howl that has become a staple of their live show.
EP closer ‘I Sit Around’ is as understated as it is quietly anthemic. The communal “hey!” is reminiscent of Aldous Harding’s ‘Imagining My Man’, and serves as a joyfully simple culmination to a formidable debut release. These recordings encapsulate The Bush’s profound ability to be simultaneously despondent and uplifting, without hiding from the fact that they are four friends playing music for the love of it.
To give some background to the EP, we caught up with Bella Walker and Madeline Wright to get their thoughts on each track.
Purple
Bella: We called this song ‘Purple’ because of the first line - “how do you decide between the red and the blue”. We’re all pretty indecisive people because we want to do many things at once. This was also the first song we put together and I thought, “hey, just maybe we could actually be a proper band wow what the!”
Madi: I wrote the words to this thinking about a very big and scary life decision I was putting off, and Bella worked her musical magic to turn it into a beautiful, big, build-up song, with a huge sigh of relief at the end. For me, this song is about sadness, selfishness, and anxiety, but lots of people who listen to it have told us that they view it as a positive song of accepting change.
Doggy
Bella: I wrote this song about my doggy, the best doggy ever. He was a Border Collie x Blue Heeler named Harry and he was a wise little human zipped up in a dog suit. I hope to know another dog like him one day but I really don’t know if that’s possible. I loved him so much LOL.
Madi: This song is so beautiful. It was maybe the fourth or fifth song written and I feel we were becoming way more confident with our playing, so it all just flowed much more cohesively. 'Doggy' was the first song we recorded and we got it in one take. Ofc, we then got big heads and it took hours to record the rest of the EP.
Cosmos
Bella: Madi went through her “Saturn Return” and wrote these funny lyrics about it. None of us actually believe in astrology though hahaha. Although, super moons definitely supercharge my period.
Madi: I was about to lose the plot when The Bush began, and The Bush saved me from being too silly. This song is about having a nonchalant attitude to life, and blaming strange and silly decisions on the stars. If you make it out of the 27 club alive, watch yr back ‘cos Saturn Return will get ya.
I Sit Around
Bella: Recording this was very funny because we all “sang” vocals and Edith sounded like one of the kids from The Little Rascals. When we were mixing, Joe [Walker] isolated her “doo doo doo doo doo” vocal track and played it on repeat and we all had a huge laugh and Edith weed her pants a little bit.
Madi: In the beginning, our songs were quite slow and sad, and we wrote this one to pep up a little. I’m daydreaming and make-believing in my mind most of the time, and this song is about finding joy in the everyday. As my Dad says, “only boring people get bored”.
Bella: We called this song ‘Purple’ because of the first line - “how do you decide between the red and the blue”. We’re all pretty indecisive people because we want to do many things at once. This was also the first song we put together and I thought, “hey, just maybe we could actually be a proper band wow what the!”
Madi: I wrote the words to this thinking about a very big and scary life decision I was putting off, and Bella worked her musical magic to turn it into a beautiful, big, build-up song, with a huge sigh of relief at the end. For me, this song is about sadness, selfishness, and anxiety, but lots of people who listen to it have told us that they view it as a positive song of accepting change.
Doggy
Bella: I wrote this song about my doggy, the best doggy ever. He was a Border Collie x Blue Heeler named Harry and he was a wise little human zipped up in a dog suit. I hope to know another dog like him one day but I really don’t know if that’s possible. I loved him so much LOL.
Madi: This song is so beautiful. It was maybe the fourth or fifth song written and I feel we were becoming way more confident with our playing, so it all just flowed much more cohesively. 'Doggy' was the first song we recorded and we got it in one take. Ofc, we then got big heads and it took hours to record the rest of the EP.
Cosmos
Bella: Madi went through her “Saturn Return” and wrote these funny lyrics about it. None of us actually believe in astrology though hahaha. Although, super moons definitely supercharge my period.
Madi: I was about to lose the plot when The Bush began, and The Bush saved me from being too silly. This song is about having a nonchalant attitude to life, and blaming strange and silly decisions on the stars. If you make it out of the 27 club alive, watch yr back ‘cos Saturn Return will get ya.
I Sit Around
Bella: Recording this was very funny because we all “sang” vocals and Edith sounded like one of the kids from The Little Rascals. When we were mixing, Joe [Walker] isolated her “doo doo doo doo doo” vocal track and played it on repeat and we all had a huge laugh and Edith weed her pants a little bit.
Madi: In the beginning, our songs were quite slow and sad, and we wrote this one to pep up a little. I’m daydreaming and make-believing in my mind most of the time, and this song is about finding joy in the everyday. As my Dad says, “only boring people get bored”.
Ricotta is out now - head to thebush.bandcamp.com to purchase the EP digitally, and maybe treat yourself to some of the band's incredible new merch options while you're at it.
