Sydney dweller, Rhi Miles has released a lovingly crafted EP, Twenty-Three, recorded in her home with close friends.
Indie-folk act, Rhi Miles has been releasing delicate, honest guitar balladry since 2016. However, her journey with music begun much earlier.
Even as a teenager, Rhi Miles was attracted to the singer/songwriter baby-boomer music over contemporary offerings. Taking influence from the softer era, Rhi Miles has culminated her years of experience into Twenty-Three, a personal EP recorded with friends.
The musings on Twenty-Three begin with About Talking, a candid look at when to speak and when to leave someone alone. “We can talk about talking some other time”. It begins with bright acoustics and Miles’s soft vocals, but she’s soon joined by a gorgeous array of vocal stacking that feels like your favourite woolly jumper. Amidst the vocal layers is Miles’s friend and fellow indie-folk singer, Isobel Knight. Their melodies play off each other beautifully, making for one of the most compelling, cathartic songs on the EP. After listening to Twenty-Three, be sure to check out Knight’s Talking To Myself EP.
Title track Twenty-Three is rich with warm texture. A piano joins Rhi’s guitar, as well as a melancholic violin. With a whispered melody that cuts to the bone, influences like Joni Mitchell and Sufjan Stevens come to mind.
View this post on Instagram
Graciousness, Dishonesty is a good example of Rhi Miles’s fingerpicking prowess. Behind the gorgeous, gentle vocals and sweeping folk melodies lies a guitar utilised to the 9th degree. Every hammer-on, every fingerpick, there’s a carefully designed chord structure bursting with colour and musical complexity. Miles’s lyrics are at their most provocative here, too: “When I walk away, I know I’ve gotta stay, and tangle all my cowardice and comedy”.
The spacious Howard rests on a spirited piano, which brings some welcome variation to the project. The songwriting, once again, is detailed and deeply emotional. At only two minutes, Howard contains material rich enough for hours of pondering. For lovers of lyrics, folk, and harmonies, Rhi Miles’s latest EP will come as a welcome soundtrack for your walks to the bus, morning coffees, and sleepless nights.
Listen to Twenty-Three below.
