Any day that contains the release of new music from Kasey
Chambers is a magnificent day. The release of the EP Ain’t No Little Girl is also the start of a new era for Chambers,
following surgery on her vocal cords. Her voice is different – and the most
noticeable difference is that the insecurity that always infused even her most
powerful songs is absent.
Lyrically, the title song contains the clue: ‘I ain’t afraid
to give a damn and take it like a man’. Despite the word ‘man’, though, this is
new music from one of the most extraordinary female singers in the land, and
one of our most astute, musically and lyrically sophisticated
singer-songwriters. Chambers’s breadth of experience and the depth of her
talent are without much compare, and in case you were in any doubt it would be
eliminated in that title track.
There are four tracks on this EP, which is a precursor to
the album Dragonfly, which will be
released during the Tamworth Country Music Festival in January 2017.
The first two tracks, ‘Ain’t No Little Girl’ and ‘Talkin’
Baby Blues’ were produced by Paul Kelly; the second two, ‘If We Had a Child’
and ‘Only Child’, are in the hands of someone who has produced Chambers many
times before: her brother, Nash.
The names of the songs suggest the theme: childhood and
children. But that’s where the similarities end. ‘Ain’t No Little Girl’ is a
battle cry and a triumph. ‘Talkin’ Baby Blues’ is a companion piece of sorts to
‘Nullarbor Song’ (from Barricades &
Brickwalls) and ‘Biggest Backyard’ (from Little Bird). On ‘If We Had a Child’ Chambers is joined by Keith
Urban, and the two sound made to sing together. ‘Only Child’ is
bluesy and raucous in the style Chambers has established on earlier releases.
The title track and ‘If We Had a Child’ will appear on Dragonfly but it makes no sense to wait
until then to hear them. Chambers is one of those artists whose every release
is significant. She has more than earned our attention, and any future plaudits
that go her way will only confirm what is already clear: she is a superstar.
Ain’t No Little Girl is out now through Warner Music Australia.
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