As smooth and suave as a vintage convertible with a swag of fur coats on the back seat, gliding along a Californian street at sunset, Gabriella Cohen has diversiform dimensions to display.
Dimensions of a deep thinking sage, a bubbly girl-next-door, and a dreamer on a mission amongst other things, that all transmogrify into a determined creator and radiant source on stage.Source of what, you might ask: and that's a beautiful question. Colourful frankness. Blissful delirium. Hollow hugs for your heart to rest inside. Choose your adventure, really. Gabriella does.
She's known to be a fiercely independent individual, a wandering spirit who recorded her previous albums all by herself with her simple mobile setup – a microphone, interface and laptop.
That familiar story of having mostly been stopped in one place for the last couple of years has administered Gabriella an awkward serenity.
It's not that she's allergic to comfort, it's just that being on the move is causally related to her creativity. "I'm usually used to being in motion. The transient nature gives me endless inspiration," she says.
This time around – in the absence of mobility – Gabriella has welcomed a little group work into the formational folding of her latest aural origami, the 'Blue No More' album.
Those collaborators include Brisbane's own music-throb Sam Cromack (Ball Park Music, My Own Pet Radio), JB Paterson (his roving folk superstar self), and the partnership of Matthew Malone and Xavier Butler (Chaos Magick Studios).
This afforded our fur-coat-loving songstress the less awkward joy of sharing the burden of the process, and the result is a sleek frolic from indie pop to choral synth rock and a blurring of the lines of era and age.
Although she hadn't met Sam in person before, when her co-producer for the first two records, Babyshakes Dillon (Full Flower Moon Band), suggested getting Sam's input on a few tracks, Gabriella was stoked. "I love his stamp of poppery!"
Her long-awaited home-town album launch finally approaches, in Brisbane at The Bearded Lady. "It's a special show because it was delayed, like so many others, and it's my home-town launch, featuring some special guests."
Those guests being album contributors JP Paterson and Matthew Malone. "Keepin' it local," she says.
Gabriella Cohen plays The Bearded Lady (Brisbane) 3 November and The Big Bonanza @ Coffs Harbour Education Campus 5 November. Gabriella also performs a solo set at The Gem Bar (Melbourne) 30 October.
