Ballarat-via-Nelson musician Lashes is here with her swaggering debut single, ‘Treason’, a brooding cut of electro-pop. Produced in collaboration with Sydney mastermind producer Xavier Dunn (GRAACE, CXLOE, Peking Duk), the tilting track is an unflinching exploration of a relationship gone wrongg.

“I wrote Treason in 2016 as a sincere apology to my boyfriend of the time,” Lashes explains. “It’s about falling
for someone new while you’re still with someone else. ‘The grass is greener’ kind of vibe, when you start comparing the two people.

To celebrate the release of ‘Treason’ we sent through Lashes a couple of burning Get To Know questions.

How did your artist name come about?

My mum came up with it as a reference to my insanely long eye lashes. However, I’ve come to think about it in a grittier way, like an animal lashing out. I wanted something that felt gender neutral with an intense edge. Lashing out, or feelings in general, defy gender.

How would you describe your music to your grandma?

That’s hard… I would say, “Nana, it’s got a lot of ‘made up’ sounds and layers and it’s sometimes erratic.. but it’s pop music.” My Nana is 92.

Tell us about a few tracks; their titles and what they’re about?

I’ve got a heap of unreleased songs but to name a few:

‘Treason’ Is about falling for someone new while you’re still in a relationship. ‘The grass is greener’  vibes. ‘The Island’ It’s about being isolated on a loopy island and everything is perfect as long as you don’t ever leave. ‘Wasted’ It’s about too much of a good thing. ‘Coconut Lime Heart Break’ tropical dreams you can’t wake up from that end in tears — kinda like when you go on holiday and something always goes wrong.

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What do you love about your hometown?

Even though I moved to Australia when I was really young I still call Nelson, New Zealand my hometown.

I love the smell, it’s like a tropical rainforest mixed with sea breeze. And you can’t beat the real fruit ice-creams that are made on the street. Boysenberry ice-cream that’s made in front of you… I mean really… how could you not?

Career highlight so far?

My career highlight was when my first song ‘Treason’ was birthed into the world. No one apart from my inner circle had heard it. That date was a combination of so many feelings, terror, excitement, relief.

Fav non-music hobby?

Probably playing video games, spending time with my friends, watching sci-fi or fantasy stuff. It’s hard to think of something I like to do that doesn’t involve music in some way.

What’s on your dream rider?

The raspberry spider flavour chocolate that Cadbury released. I have banned it from my house because I can’t control myself.

Dream music collab?

I’ve got so many dream collabs. I’d really like to work with Mura Masa, Basenji, Chase Atlantic, Kito, No Rome, Allday, Skrillex..

Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

I hope I’m five albums deep, working with amazing people and having creative freedom.

What’s your go-to Karaoke song?

‘Mr Brightside’ by The Killers

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