The heat that long over-stayed its welcome was a burden that not too many folks were thrilled with this last month. Thankfully, it finally seems there’s a breeze of change blowing through. One that is soothing and calm. We’re not just talking about a cool change, this wind’s name is Lilly Tunley, a jazz singer who makes funk swing and takes the intimacy of folk to make it pop.
Like a barrage of sunshine and high-energy, the boppy jazz tunes of Lilly Tunley can’t help but worm its way into your brain.
Lilly Tunley is the vocalist and the namesake of a band of “talented musicians and gentle souls” (according to their website). The gentleness comes through in tracks that give a sense of a different world, one where the work on George St disappears and becomes the sweetest of moments. The band is made up of vocalist Tunely, drummer Matthew Head (from the Black Jesus Experience), double bassist Elise Winterflood (Flash Company, La Busca Leona), trumpeter Kelly O’Donohue (The Seven Ups, Woohoo Revue and Purple Tusks) and guitarist Matthew Roche (Matthew Roche Trio).
Lilly Tunley are begging to gain steam with the release of their EP Noticing You. Help Me is the first single, a tune that moves up and down and hooks the listener in with ease. Don’t Let Me Down is a bopping tune with a bass that struts all over that funk-pop vibe and one allows Tunley to show off her sweet voice.
According to Tunley, “When people listen to my music I want to give them an experience where they remember the story and remember a melody from that song that is ultimately connected. I want to present them with something that they can tune into and relate too, where it triggers their own emotions and speaks ideas they felt they struggled to express.”
Always creating, Tunley looks to make music come alive, to find make the thoughts and feelings in her mind become something tangible. Life and her surroundings give inspiration; “Sitting on a tram – watching people or in an amazing location, catching up with friends or processing the more difficult moments in life. I aim to try and create moments within my songs that express the everyday struggles that people face in an art-form that people can access and relate too.”
Whatever connects these musicians together is something that creates a sound that infuses a range of inspirations like a well-mixed chai tea. There’s a cool jazz flavour from the bass and trumpet, drums that bop and bounce as a tasty undercurrent and a guitar that comes and goes like a waning and waxing moon. Noticing You is out now via Bandcamp, and be sure to get down to one of the band’s launch show at the Grace Darling!
