Effe announces debut EP Solder with single “Lick The Flame”

“‘Lick The Flame’ is about coming to terms with the fact you’re being led on,” Effe explained. “I wrote it with Alex Craig (After) who has such an ear for that nostalgic, y2k Dido sound that I love, so he was the perfect collaborator.”

The five-track record was cut with contributions from Craig, Edward Quinn and a close circle of friends including Cam Tonkin, Maia Efstathis, Lukas Frank and Wilson Conn. Effe gravitated towards the piano for much of the sessions, letting the instrument’s physical mechanics bleed into the mixes. “Ed gave me freedom to play around on the synths in his studio, though I spent the most time at the piano,” she said. “You can hear the organic piano sounds in the songs, like the keys pressing and me pushing the sustain pedal with my foot, which is a cool textural element.”

Solder draws on Effe’s first experience of falling in love. “Last year I fell in love for the first time,” she said. “I made these songs in fragments. I was reflecting a lot on the previous experiences I had dating, which were confusing, frustrating, and sometimes crushing.” That process shaped a collection that examines intimacy and transformation.

Effe taught herself to write and produce on Garageband as a teenager, supplementing piano lessons with bedroom experiments. A film course in Brisbane later plugged her into the city’s tight-knit trip-hop and alternative scene, where she built a live presence and met future collaborators. After returning to Naarm/Melbourne, she absorbed a broader set of futuristic sounds that now filter into the EP. Her approach draws on touchstones such as Björk, Portishead and Lana Del Rey.

Solder artwork

Solder tracklist

“See Through”
“Lick The Flame”
“Every Version Of You”
“Faceless Angel”
“Tears Always Burn”