PAXY has reflected on the push-pull dynamics of a relationship on her new single, a brewing indie-pop track titled ‘Magnetic Field’.
The song is tinged with bluesy-soul and rock influences, and sees the Naarm-based PAXY — known offstage as Bridget Leila — deliver incisive lyricism and transcendent vocals.
Produced by Lee Bradshaw, Michael Bradshaw and Jeremy Chua, ‘Magnetic Field’ opens with brooding pianos and sparse electric guitar strums, rightfully forefronting PAXY’s inimitable timbre.
What begins as a simplistic sound, punctuated by PAXY’s darkly saturated and reverbed vocals, later becomes something even richer, building to a chorus that explodes with thunderous drums and choir-like backing harmonies.
It’s here that PAXY’s rock influences pull focus, backed by Brett Garsed’s driving guitar and pulsating percussion, but it isn’t long before she returns to the slower grooves of bluesy-soul on the verses.
These moments are carried by spaghetti Western-like guitar riffs and PAXY’s lilting delivery, which stretches flexibly around the sultry rhythm.
“The drawn out tension escalates into a chorus that I wanted to sound like a sonic sandstorm,” PAXY explained of the production in a press statement.
PAXY tops it all off with a strong pen game, waxing poetic on the exhaustion that comes with refusing someone’s magnetic pull. “There’s a magnetic in you and me,” she croons in the opening lines, “drawing us in far too easily.”
Underlying this is PAXY’s pursuit of validation, as she pleads with someone to “tell me I’m pretty,” showcasing a vulnerability that feels universal.
Speaking of the song’s genesis, PAXY said she “thought I hated it but it eventually became our favourite…this was meant to be played loud.”
PAXY completes her creative vision for ‘Magnetic Field’ with an accompanying music video, which is set for release on August 14 and was directed by Tori Styles.
It was shot in black and white 16mm film in Devilbend on the Mornington Peninsula, and speaks to the track’s sense of devotion and reverence with religious aesthetics.
“The shoot day was so full of strong femme energy,” PAXY recalled, “and to be able to work with all female-led brands and female creatives made it such a magical experience.”
While you’ll have to keep your eyes peeled for that music video next month (peep some BTS shots above), we at least can revel in the simmering blues revelry of PAXY’s new single ‘Magnetic Field’ below.
