Australia has a great history of producing some really sublime acoustic based singer/songwriters and Inti Ray takes her first steps into that pond with her EP “Stoned”. It’s entirely laced with acoustic guitar and some occasional trickery but the core of the songs revolve around guitar and voice.
“Dreamer’s Den” opens with a mystical chord arrangement that slowly grabs hold of you. Inti Ray’s voice has a lazy and reflective tone to it and it suits the guitar playing that she has. Things feel free and floppy but also like it’s been caught in a rainy grey day. “Too Much” adds in drums and reversed note picking to give a mid tempo wistful and breezy mood despite the lyrics themselves being quite depressive as she laments over someone being “too much to lose”. Infact, the EP seems to be dedicated to a lost loved one and a lot of the mood and timbre of the EP reflects that. “Wake Up” refers to the non acceptance of what’s going on around her and the lyrics “I don’t wanna wake up” are repeated over and over a smooth and thin guitar and synth string setting. “New Day” was the first track I heard from Inti Ray and it’s still my favourite of hers. It’s the most accomplished and full sounding on the EP. The lyrics are beautiful and the melody aches in reflective love. “Cracks” closes out the EP with a simple guitar, piano and vocal track that rotates around several chords and let’s Inti’s voice carry the track with its fragile delivery.
There’s definite promise here for the future. The reverse chord effects becoming melodies are a great touch and the overall theme sells this EP as an understated moment for those quiet time. It will be interesting to see what Inti Ray tackles next.
Recommended track: Next Day