Australians have embraced the solo female vocalist like Americans have embraced the taco.
Unlike many occupations where gender inequality is still prevalent, the idea of a woman musician laying her soul bare has been smashing glass ceilings and splashing the resulting debris across our country.
Enter Sam Buckingham.
Alongside the likes of Lanie Lane, Megan Washington et al., she typifies everything we enjoy about our local songstresses, namely an explosive voice, unique compositions and, to-the-bone lyrics.
In her four-track EP, Fragile Heart, it is in her words where she detours from the pack.
Whether it’s her despise for redundant romance in opening tune ‘Hit Me With Your Heart’ or her fear of love in the title track, Buckingham has the rare gift of skinning and gutting a complex feeling so as to make it nicely edible for the listener.
She only stumbles slightly with the EP’s final track, ‘Only A Fool’ which is a little too minimal and unadventurous to sustain interest.
This hiccup signifies that Buckingham will need to be at her delicate best to ensure her next full-length release gets the listen it deserves.
Still, there’s enough quality in Fragile Heart to suggest she’s more than up to the challenge.
