With every new release, Perth-born, now Sydney-based singer-songwriter St. South continues to showcase an innate ability to reach into your soul. Her music, an evocative blend of poignant, honest songwriting carried by lo-fi indie-pop melodies, captures personal vulnerabilities and translates them into moments of deep connection.
Today, St. South announces the next chapter in her musical journey with the release of her stirring and emotive new EP, 'BIG SADS'. The record, featuring recent singles 'Better Days' and 'Didn’t Need You', alongside today’s new release, the EP’s title track, will be out September 20th via Nettwerk Music Group.
Following her debut full-length album, 2020’s 'Get Well Soon', 'BIG SADS' finds St. South at a significant personal crossroads. The loss of her father in September 2020 nearly led to creative paralysis, leaving her feeling overwhelmed and incapable of even basic self-care. Six months later, in a moment of vulnerability, she began writing in her home studio. The result is a delicately produced collection of alt-indie-pop tracks that explore the infinite shades of loss, love, grief, survival, and – ultimately – hope for better days.
Of the EP, St. South reflects, “BIG SADS is about a lot of things, but mostly it’s about feeling some big feelings. Love, grief, depression, anxiety, heartache, and heart-healing. I’m learning that the pain that comes from losing someone is a testament to how much you love them. When my dad died, the world was still in lockdown, and I had this hopeful thought that I would spend the next year at my piano, processing the grief in a productive way."
"When in reality, grief turned into depression, leaving me feeling stuck and incapable of even basic self-care. The thought of writing about grief felt far too overwhelming when I was living and breathing it every day, and sitting at my piano started to give me so much anxiety. That’s why this EP is so special to me; because of how impossible it felt to start, let alone finish. When I hear it now, mixed and mastered, I can’t believe that it’s done. I can’t believe that I did that, amidst the biggest sads of my life.”
Now, St. South shares the EP’s title track and official video, a song that tiptoes in with whispered vocals, a looping drumbeat, and an affecting piano melody. Reflecting on its creation, she explains, “I’d been in a bit of a slump since finishing the previous four tracks. They were done, and I was really happy with them. But I still needed to write one more song, which felt impossible while I was so depressed. I was sitting at my piano one afternoon, feeling pretty defeated, and I was like, ‘I’m so sick of trying’. Then I just sang the line: ‘I’ve been feeling big sads.’ And I thought, ‘You know what, maybe I just need to write about that.’”
The last three years were marked by intense emotions for St. South, and 'BIG SADS' encapsulates her journey through grief and depression. Returning with her first new music in four years with the liberating 'Didn’t Need You' in February, followed by April’s 'Better Days', and today’s title track, the EP is as much a celebration of life as it is a reflection on grief. Though working through 'BIG SADS' was like pushing a boulder up a hill, St. South has now reached the apex, and the view looks beautiful.
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