Queensland singer-songwriter grew up near Dalby on the
Darling Downs but her debut EP is not a collection of stories about wide open
skies and lowing cattle, although one of the tracks, ‘The Unfamiliar’, is about
her love of travel and rural life. Instead, Guitars
& Cigars is a declaration of Cosgrove as an artist. Cosgrove attended
the CMAA Academy of Country Music in 2016 and she has already had broad
experience with live shows and co-writers (although all five tracks on the EP
were penned solo), which suggests that she takes opportunities that come to her
and continues to learn, consolidating what she already knows all the while.
That attitude to her work is, no doubt, why this EP is such
a professional debut. It is so well formed that it suggests Cosgrove has a
catalogue of unrecorded songs that served the purpose of getting her to the point
where she could produce five winners. Each song on this EP is both entertaining
and meaningful, delivered by a voice unlike any other in Australian country
music. Cosgrove’s voice sounds stylised and confident without being affected.
It’s the voice of an artist who knows who she is and what she wants to convey,
and it’s immediately intriguing.
The EP opens with ‘Nobody’s Getting Out Alive’, an ode to the
power of seizing the moment which also sounds reflective: this is not the
battle cry of someone who wants to win at all costs but, rather, an artist who
acknowledges that taking a chance also means risking a consequence. The second
track, ‘Rebel Girl’, is Cosgrove’s self-portrait, done with a wink and a nod. All
five songs on the EP are personal in inspiration but there’s a distinct lack of
the squirmy self-consciousness which can be a trap for a young artist.
Cosgrove has already achieved a lot but there is no doubt
more ahead. She’s not so much paying dues as laying track for the road ahead,
which looks like it will be a gleaming, straight highway rather than a long and
winding road.
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