Q&A Scene: Track-By-Track: DEBUT EP 'BLOOD MOON’ ~ MONTANA SHARP

Blood Moon EP track-by-track by Montana Sharp

Way of the Whiffler

This is the oldest song on the listing, but also the one that took the longest time to complete in production. I found the word whiffler using a word of the day app, and

thought it encapsulated where I was at the time, where everything within and around me was in a constant state of change. We started recording this song in 2019 and I was so nervous having never sung in a professional studio before, so we did a complete re-record in late 2020 for a darker sound. I added some extra synths during lockdown last year to get that surround sound cinematic feel.

Power

The writing process began with that rolling piano line – I really liked that feeling of momentum, and wanted the lyrics to reflect that feeling of being on the run. It was probably the quickest writing process out of any song on the EP, as well as being the most fun to perform live. Peter Maslen is playing the drums on the track, and he absolutely nailed the feel of it. Power is the diva track on the EP before we start to move to a more vulnerable place.

Greenhouse

This song is the whole kit and caboodle and kitchen sink – I really let my imagination run bonkers and poured every bell and whistle into this track. If it were in a musical it would be the Act 1 finale. Greenhouse represents the unravelling of the ego, to reveal the layers of vulnerability underneath. It’s a direct conversation with my most inner workings of my anxious voices, but then I saw how aptly the lyrics captured the feeling of being locked inside during a pandemic.

Enough

Admittedly, I wrote this after a visit to the psychologist, and writing it was a very cathartic process. Up until that point, I was writing a lot of metaphors and similes and coding my emotions in fancy words, but in this song I really just lay it bare. In the studio, I accompanied myself on piano and did a one-take vocal. I remember feeling super crap on the day, but I think that made for a more emotional performance. We kept the production really bare in stark contrast to the other tracks, to let the lyrics speak for themselves.

Blood Moon

This title track started with the descending piano line, and the mental image of floating through space. Something about the chord progression gave me the impression of movement and complete resolution, and I wanted to capture those feelings in the lyrics. I remember feeling absolutely euphoric when recording this in the studio, the orchestration and the story feels so euphoric. There are many series of emotions within my EP, but I wanted to leave listeners hopeful by the end of it.

How would you describe your sound in food form and why?

Trifle, because it’s layered. As Joey from Friends would say: What’s not to like? Custard, good. Jam, good. Beef, GOOD!

What’s your scene?

A big bowl of mac and cheese.

Blood Moon is out February 11.

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SHARES NEW SINGLE ‘WAY OF THE WHIFFLER‘+

ANNOUNCES DEBUT EP ‘BLOOD MOON’ OUT FEBRUARY 11 –

PRE SAVE HERE

Eccentric, unapologetic art-pop connoisseur Montana Sharp has today announced her breathtaking new single Way Of The Whiffler, a clever exploration of the Old English word whiffler as it pertains to the confusion and ever-changing opinions of youth, out today, January 14. Way Of The Whiffler precedes the highly-anticipated release of Montana’s debut EP, Blood Moon, to be released on February 11 – pre-save here. This highly trained, highly skilled ‘musician’s musician’ marries complex, classical chord structures and motifs with modern, innovative pop songwriting conventions – and audiences can’t get enough.

Way Of The Whiffler is just the kind of artful, bold track listeners have come to expect from Montana Sharp. It feels pulled directly from Eurovision; evocative of Amanda Palmer, Kate Miller-Heidke and Australian pop artist Montaigne, yet still completely unique to Montana. Orchestral swells swirl underneath Montana’s all-powerful vocal; her voice is incomparable, her performance and control impeccable – and she’s in fine form on this single and all throughout the EP. Speaking on the inspiration behind Way Of The Whiffler, Montana explains, Around the time I wrote this song, I used a word of the day dictionary app every day to find cool words that would inspire future songs and lyrics. One day, the word of the day was “whiffler’’, an old English word meaning ‘a person who frequently shifts opinions, attitudes, interests, etc.’ I thought that was emblematic of everyone’s predicament in their early 20s – where everything around you is sort of impermanent and ever-changing. At that time of my life, I was set on projecting a completely different version of myself, to hide the true one, who felt hurt and vulnerable. I think I wrote the lyrics from the lens of someone who wanted to keep people at a distance. After all, what is the point of attachment if the only constant is change? That was my view at the time anyway.”

The overriding theme of the EP Blood Moon is the immense period of growth that occurs during one’s early twenties; listeners can track Montana’s mentality shift throughout the tracklist as she grapples with heartache and personal development, as she describes, “We start the EP with songs such as Whiffler and Power, written from a protective and unconscious place. We then move into songs Greenhouse and Enough which is the very raw soul searching and painfully honest conversations with our egos and fears. We then arrive at the Blood Moon, which ties together the story of how falling apart is very key to falling together. For me, these succession of songs is really a time capsule of my early 20s – the battle in removing my outer shell, and all the unanswered questions that pop up in that tumultuous time.”

The EP has it all – breathtaking singles Power and Greenhouse, where Montana’s vocal and production prowess is in full, mighty form, passionately punctuating various life-changes, while softer, more introspective offerings Enough and Blood Moon allow audiences to lose themselves in Montana’s beautiful, cinematic world.

Way Of The Whiffler is out January 14. Blood Moon is out February 11.

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Listen to Way Of The Whiffler