Written by Lauren Rosier
The rising Australian songstress, Gian Slater, drops her new music video for her first single, “Ocean Love,” taken from her new record, Grey Is Ground, out April 16th via Biophilia Records.
From the very first bar to the very last, Gian delivers an excellent emotional, synth-pop record filled with her extraordinary voice layered over top of galactic synths. Her voice is just so beautiful. The music of Grey Is Ground was influenced by a performance that Slater delivered with two friends at the Sydney Opera House. Slater actually performed with famed pianist, producer, and spiritual guide, Barney McAll, plus master drummer, Simon Barker, forming an Australian super-band.
The overall success of the concert led the singer to write an entire album for the trio. She began writing the material during her first pregnancy. “I was pregnant with my first child as I wrote the title song ‘Grey Is Ground’, which started the whole project,” Slater recalls, “bringing a child into the world helped me to embrace uncertainty, and to recognize the unknown as essential.”
On this album, she tried a new method of songwriting. “My music has always been led by harmony, followed by melody,” she explains. “Rhythm has been an intuitive addition to these elements, maybe even an afterthought. With this album, rhythm began the writing process for every song. I used rhythmic patterns and cycles that were unfamiliar; I was finding melodies that could float amidst the uncertainty.”
The multi-instrumentalist/vocalist/composer, Gian Slater, is very well-known in the jazz and contemporary music world, both internationally and in her native country of Australia. Grey features keyboardist/producer Barney McAll (Sia, Daniel MerriWeather, Aloe Blacc) and drummer Simon Barker, plus special guests: beatmaker Emefern and trumpeter Phil Slater.
Slater has always been a singer for singers; an individual whose vocals and songwriting have been able to create an adventurous career. As the Director of the improvising vocal ensemble Invenio, she has pushed the envelope of choral music in Australia through acclaimed albums, commissions, theatre and dance works, and by working with pop, classical, jazz and electronic artists.
Take a listen to “Ocean Love” and then immerse yourself in her latest release, Grey Is Ground, when it is released on April 16.
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