Sesame Girl share new EP ‘Butterfly Wing in a Silver Locket’
The Australian alt-rock newcomers arrive with their confident and infectious new EP.
Photo: Liam Jordan
Australian newcomers Sesame Girl have arrived with their new EP Butterfly Wing in a Silver Locket. If you’re a fan of dreamy guitars, swirling melodies and huge, infectious choruses, this collection of songs is a perfect accompaniment to your late-summer listening. It all sounds absolutely lush and full of expansive, gorgeous instrumentation and hooky, addictive sweet melodies.
Lead singer Heather Duncan declared that her desire was to make “a record that could be really personal”. On Butterfly Wing In A Silver Locket, she has certainly delivered just that. EP opener Wings Of A Butterfly is perfect music for the departure of summer and the arrival of fall as Duncan sings about seeing “summer fade away”. There are big, dreamy, weaving guitars and an even bigger chorus. It’s hard not to love right from the start. It is more than a bit reminiscent of recent Snail Mail, and its combination of ‘90s indie pop and melodic shoegaze takes a lot of influence from the last handful of Soccer Mommy records too.
The second song, Kick In The Teeth, sets itself apart a little bit stylistically with its lovely pedal steel part. In fact, despite having such clear influences, each song on Butterfly Wing in a Silver Locket feels distinct and different. It is a testament to the incredible songwriting on show that each song on this EP is just as infectious as the last. Whilst the sincerity on display is mostly incredibly endearing, there are a few lyrics that border on the limit of being perhaps just a little too saccharine. When you have an ear for melodies as good as these though, it doesn’t matter too much.
Superstar really is the highlight of this EP. It’s an ode to friendship that is made to soundtrack a coming-of-age movie. If this is a sign of what Sesame Girl are capable of, then we are going to be getting plenty more of their songs stuck in our heads going forward. Its addictive chorus is just dripping in sugar. When you hear it, you have to hear it again and again. It’s another example of excellent songcraft. It’s one thing to be able to craft such hooky and sweet melodies, but it’s another entirely to be able to weave them into your songs and arrange with such skill and precision. These songs are all dynamic, and the arrangements are varied and interesting enough to keep you coming back for more.
Elsewhere, Rubberband shakes things up a little bit with its Olivia Rodrigo-inspired crunchy guitars. It comes at just the right time to give the EP some real momentum as it barrels towards its close. Again, the song is elevated by a massive chorus. It really is hard not to get sucked into these songs.
Penultimate track Back To Texas really should be the closer to Butterfly Wing in a Silver Locket, though. It feels epic with its slow build-up and cathartic power ballad with a classic rock-infused chorus. As with all of the songs, it shines bright and offers a real payoff to the EP. Acting almost as an epilogue, Prettiest Girl finishes things up. Whilst it’s still an endearing song, it doesn’t offer anything quite as unique in the same way that the other songs on this EP do.
All in all, Butterfly Wing in a Silver Locket is an excellent blueprint for how to announce yourself as a new band. It pulls from multiple influences but makes sure to present them in different ways as the EP progresses. Most importantly, it is simply overflowing with an endless barrage of summer-soaked, sugar-sweet choruses. I can’t imagine some of these songs leaving my head anytime soon.
Butterfly Wing in a Silver Locket is out now.
