Victorian songstress Sadie Mustoe offers a rundown of the artists and songs that inspired her shimmery new EP, Shades of Yellow.
Sadie Mustoe mesmerised listeners with her unique blend of indie folk-pop on Shades of Yellow. Released in July, the five-track debut EP delivered the sonic equivalent of lolling around in lush green prairies, and stood as a testament to the Victorina singer’s artistry as she “allowed myself a lot more creative freedom,” she later told Happy Mag.
With a glistening debut under her belt and plans for live performances in the wings, Mustoe stopped by Happy for a run-through of the songs and artists that inspired Shades of Yellow.
Catch Mustoe’s complete EP rundown below, and scroll down to listen to her new EP Shades of Yellow.
Madison Cunningham
From the beginning of the whole process that was ‘Shades of Yellow’, [producer] David Carr and I had a quote “what would Madison do?”. We were referring to Madison Cunningham who is one of my all-time favourite artists and her record ‘Revealer’.
My favourite song off the album is ‘Anywhere’. There are so many intricate details in this song that we tried to emulate. For example, the percussion instruments that add to the groove we used as inspiration for the percussion in ‘Understand My Hand’.
The drum pattern that uses lots of toms inspired the drum line in ‘Dear You’ and ‘Please’ and the slightly experimental sounds of the electric guitar David and I used throughout the whole EP.
Jeff Buckley — Grace
Another song that inspired a lot on the EP was Jeff Buckley’s ‘Grace’. Imagine it’s the first time David and I are sitting down and discussing the direction of the EP and I’ve never heard of this guy called Jeff Buckley.
David says “you have to listen to his album”, so we put it on and I am immediately obsessed. ‘Grace’ made me want to dance and cry at the same time. Shivers. Every. Single. Time.
It has such complex rhythms, interesting guitar sounds (much like Madison Cunningham), a big full sound, and incredible orchestral elements.
A lot of the string arrangements on the EP were inspired by ‘Grace’. I would sit and listen to little sections of the song and then come up with the string parts and the big full sound was definitely something David captured when mixing the tracks.
Elbow — One Day Like This
‘One Day Like This’ by Elbow inspired the idea of having a chorus of voices in ‘Understand My Hand’. By the end of this song, Elbow manages to create a huge sound and captivate a collective feeling by having a chorus of voices.
I felt that ‘Understand My Hand’ needed this at the end and my vision was to include a few of my friends and get them to sing on the EP. That’s exactly what we did.
Ashe — Emotional
The artist Ashe and her song ‘Emotional’ inspired the more acoustic sections in the songs. Particularly ‘I’ll Be Alright’ which is definitely the most acoustic feeling and pop song on the EP. As well as the layering of her vocals.
