Introducing... Eliza Hull

Ms. Hull is ready for her proverbial close-up.

Though she's been toiling away at her craft for nearly three years now, the arrival of Eliza Hull's forthcoming EP Dawn heralds her formal arrival on the music scene. First coming to my attention as a founding member of local music blog Large Noises, a music website that films original clips of local and international acts, Eliza Hull herself was later showcased on the site.

Stand-alone single 'Five' followed soon after, demonstrating bother her strong lyrical storytelling as well as her interesting musical palette. Her debut EP, Dawn, follows Hull's ability to weave lyrical narratives. She takes a more practical approach to songwriting than most, after receiving a government grant (Australia Council's ARTSTART), Hull spent the year travelling, teaching and - as part of a creative writing course - inking poetry and lyrics. The influence of her experiences is brought to bear on her music, itself an eclectic mix of moody, downtempo tunes balancing lush instrumentation with elements of eletronica.

Centered around her vocals that balance the character of lilting songstress with smoky chanteuse, there's a trip-hop streak to her sound too, with lead single 'Without Words' chanelling Portishead's stinging noire guitars against sampled strings and harps reminiscent of Björk's nineties output. Elsewhere 'Saturation'  employs warm horns and a steady march that climax into a drum-and-bass-lite coda of 'it's not raining/it's pouring'.
More importantly, Hull's mature music bucks the trend of the 'fey-girl-with-pretty-music' cliché  that seems to be the sticking point of many emerging female acts. Already surrounding herself with strong collaborators and a production team to properly articulate her musical world, Eliza Hull is definitely one to keep an ear on.
Saturation by showoffservices

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Dawn is officially released on May 20 through Showoff Services
 and Eliza Hull will be playing The Toff In Town for the EP launch. Tix through MoshTix

May 31: The Toff In Town, Melbourne VIC