Sianon - “Northside”
Photo provided by artist
UK-born, Melbourne-based singer-songwriter Sianon arrives on our blog with the vulnerable sounds of “Northside.”
Pressing the play button invites the intimate sounds of piano into your ears, setting the stage for a heartfelt and melancholic musical voyage. In the distance, a soft swelling of strings provides ambience, stretching the production to the far ends of the sonic landscape. Depending upon your mood, we reckon that “Northside“ will sweep you right into its cinematic clutches.
Sianon soon arrives with an endearing vocal performance, hitting our raw and borderline-brooding niche for the genre. She has knack for nailing the modern end of the folk spectrum, while also maintaining a firm grasp on the nostalgic sounds of yesteryear by allowing her voice to be captured with no evidence of digital manipulation. Instead, subtle harmony layers join as the song progresses.
After the second refrain, a dynamic shift is deployed to provide a natural sense of ebb and flow, ensuring that listeners come away with a reason to return to “Northside,” again and again. The song culminates in a stripped-back, emotionally-driven version of the chorus, and we’ve found it incredibly easy to lose ourselves in this track, which is oftentimes exactly what we need a song to do.
About the track, Sianon adds: “‘Northside‘ is my most vulnerable song yet. I moved to Australia two years ago and fell in love with what life is like here, but if I stay, I'll be leaving my family behind. Inspired by the sounds of Bon Iver and The National, it's a push and pull between nostalgia and change. Written with Hayden Calnin in his North Melbourne studio, our favourite moment is the cinematic shift in the bridge, where we wove in a voice clip of my grandma, immortalising her voice as the songs heart.”