Folk singer-songwriter Southey's debut single is titled 'Run River'; it has an Angus Stone meets a Gang Of Youths energy (even a hint of Passenger) as Southey digs into his bag of lyrics to present a song aimed squarely at the listener's own feels.
"I wrote 'Run River' a few years ago; it was one of those songs that just came quite organically," Southey says."I often like writing things that intrigue me, as if someone else wrote it and I'm hearing it for the first time. It's a strange paradox but that's where this song started."
After writing, recording and producing the single himself in his home studio in Surry Hills, Southey then sought outside help to finish the track which was mixed by Peter Holz (Gang Of Youths, Vance Joy) and mastered by Nick Franklin (CLEWS, Polish Club).
"I recorded 'Run River' in my home studio," begins Southey, "tracking vocals under duvets and recording guitar any chance I got when my neighbours weren't either renovating or singing opera in the middle of the day.
"We have this weird thing in my house; whenever my housemates turn on the bathroom light, my room kind of flickers for a second and these little electric clicks appear in my recordings.
"Regardless, I managed to record everything there at home. I got in touch with Peter Holz who is a multi-platinum selling, ARIA-winning mixer, producer and songwriter and he did the final mix in his studio."
Ahead of the song's release tomorrow (28 July), scenestr is stoked to premiere 'Run River' today. Enjoy.
As well as handling the writing and recording of 'Run River', Southey also created the single's artwork. "The artwork for the single was something I wasn't expecting to create myself.
"It started out as a few concepts and sketches. Before I knew it I had this set of acrylic paints and a canvas and my studio was covered in these abstract river paintings."
'Run River' also marks the first release from the recently launched music label Peach & Sons. Based in Sydney and headed up by Sam Patching, Peach & Sons is thrilled to kick off their new chapter with Southey.
"'Run River' is a beautiful song by an incredibly talented local artist who I've felt privileged to work with," Sam says.
"I couldn't be more excited to share this as the debut release on our label and look forward to bringing more of Southey's work to the surface later in the year."