Bonniesongs is the project of Bonnie Stewart, an Irish/Australian artist based in Sydney. While her early songs occupied an ethereal space, the project evolved on latest album Energetic Mind. Released via Brighton label Small Pond Recordings, the record retained the folk sensibilities but matched them with a heavier edge. “When I started writing for Bonniesongs, what came out was more dreamy folk, and often still is,” Stewart explains. “I think [Energetic Mind] is a balance of this ethereal soft sound but also a lot of darker grungy undertones have crept in. Recording made me realise the huge influence that 90s grunge/punk has had on my writing.”
To further expand what Bonniesongs can sound like, this month sees the release of Energetic Mind: Live, an album of special recordings taken from a variety of live shows and studio sessions put out by Sydney label Art As Catharsis. With both solo and full band arrangements, the EP presents each track on the original album in a slightly new guise, displaying not only Stewart’s expertise and versatility as a musician but also the nuance and depth of the songs, each version finding some new quality that further expands its meaning.
We’re delighted to share the album’s final single, ‘Cat & Mouse’, before release this Friday. Filmed at label Small Pond’s recording studio last summer, the take loses none of the slow-burning intensity of the original, stark guitar rolling beneath Stewart’s airy vocals, as though pulling the words down from above. As the track builds, so does the portentous energy, some weight emerging from within the gossamer vocals and gathering with thunderous potential.
Energetic Mind: Live is out on the 7th August via Art As Catharsis and you can pre-order it now from the Bonniesongs Bandcamp page. The orginal album is still available via Small Pond.
