Sorry Sticky Fingers, Newtown has a new hero. She isn’t singing about it’s streets or leafy parks, and she probably isn’t as blazed. It’s Le Pie, the indie pop songstress is quickly becoming such a sensation that this bustling inner west town can no longer contain her. On the back of three songs she has managed to cast a spell on us all thanks in no small part to the breakout hit Secrets. Her dark pop charm is simply irresistible, and with Le Pie gearing up for a run of shows in August she has shared with us a very early demo of that fateful track.
As she begins to take Australia by storm, Le Pie shares her first rough cut of Secrets. A bathroom demo, it contains all the brilliance of the produced track we know and love.
The final version of Secrets that Le Pie released is a flawless song to say the least. Her punk rock background provides plenty of grit as a foundation while the melody and layered backing vocals nail that indie pop charm. The lyrics are intoxicating in their confessional nature while still remaining content with simply wandering to find the right answer.
This demo is very much a bare bones version of the song we all know and love. Gone are the backing vocals, the drums and spoken word bridge. Instead what we are left with is an abrasive guitar and Le Pie’s vocals, recorded in a bathroom no less. In the absence of a recording studio and mic, Le Pie went DIY and used her phone to record her vocals, the bathroom serving to create a bit of reverb. We know people like to sing in the shower, but this is definitely next level.
That guitar really puts its foot down. It grabs you by the collar and forces you to listen. Its striking and quite frankly pretty badass. Le Pie has been plying drums and singing in punk bands for years, so she owns every moment with a calm ferocity. That edgy axe is complimented with her voice, just as clear, calm and serene as ever. You can almost picture Le Pie sitting against the bathroom sink recording this.
It’s a song about struggling to find a place and a purpose. And while the final cut conveys that well, here it feels much stronger. There’s a garage rock tenacity that emboldens this demo. It’s frank as hell, almost like the musical equivalent of a person shrugging their shoulders and saying “Well fuck, it is what it is“. It’s brilliant, it’s alluring and gives us all the more reason to be excited to hear the sounds of her debut EP.
Le Pie has announced a quick run of shows starting in August, with SOLO, Myami, Bec Sandridge and The Phoncurves playing supports.
August 27, Goodgod Small Club, Sydney – Buy tickets
August 28, The Uni Bar, Wollongong – Buy tickets
September 5, Little & Olver, Melbourne – Buy tickets
September 11, Milk Factory, Brisbane – Buy tickets
