Emotional. Instinctive. Honest. Self-described singer Phoebe Sinclair plays original music inspired by songstresses such as Adele, Sia, Lorde, Ellie Goulding and Thelma Plum.
"The single I'm about the release is called 'This Isn't Love' [4 June] and I wrote it while I was in a relationship with a person and it really wasn't working, and we both knew it, but it was just kind of tearing us apart. I'm not really sure if it was a good idea in hindsight, because of course he knew it was about him.
"I worked with [producer] Caleb James, and he was the one who pretty much helped me put together my team of wonderful people who all helped and contributed to the album, whether it be on production ideas, on beats, on strange instruments... on 'This Isn't Love'.”
Phoebe has been working her way around the Brisbane music scene for the last 18 months having previously studied at the Queensland Conservatorium. "I've always sung and love to write my own music, and I finally got a great team of people around me and put together this single and this EP that's coming out ['Sentiment'].
"So I've had this all in the works since the beginning of last year and… I've been waiting until I did everything properly and the songs and everything have been a process, definitely. They grew from little ditties I wrote on my guitar to the electronic-pop-diva type. "A lot of my music comes from my inability to do well in relationships apparently; it's an outlet for me to say 'I was right, you were wrong!' In real life I'm quite quiet and reserved… but when I'm singing I can start as many fights as I like and no one really minds.
“[However] I'm struggling to define what genre it is. When anyone asks I have to round it off as ambient pop, but on the four-track there is a kind of electronic ballad. And it's a really odd sort of jazz… It means that every time I play the song I get to do different things, and show different types of emotion."
Phoebe says the album promises to have a few upbeat pop songs and that she likes to channel Adele while performing. "With the album... I find it great singing such emotive. power-ballad-type songs, so when you play a whole half-hour set of it, or a 45-minute set of it, you don't want the crowd to be in tears.
“My whole persona on stage is very real. I love how Adele is when you see her perform. She's got all these big, amazing, power-ballad-epic songs, and then… you realise she's just [a] person. I really like that."
Phoebe recently played at the Milton Markets grand re-opening show. "I've got to admit it's one of the longest gigs I've played. It's a five-hour gig they had me do, which is tough on the fingers… but it was wonderful. The night crawlers were out, which meant I had a different audience, which was really cool.
“[Performing on stage] is empowering: I'm quiet in general. I'm one of four siblings and I've kind of got the third-child syndrome, so it's nice being on stage [as] everybody listens to me. It's my opportunity to have my voice heard and get all my emotions out."
Phoebe has a run a shows to promote the EP release. "They're music events where there's other bands, which is cool because it means I get to work with other [musicians]. I suppose in the long-run, I'm looking to potentially move over to the UK... I was raised in the UK, so it would be good to see what's going on over there."
Phoebe Sinclair plays The Milk Factory (Brisbane) 4 June and Empire Hotel (Brisbane) 30 June.
