Track-By-Track: Allan Smithy Takes Us Through His Charged Debut EP 'I See A Palm Tree'

I See A Palm Tree the new EP from Sydney artist Allan Smithy (aka Matt Amery), a reflection on life growing up in the burbs that touches on recurring themes of charged issues relevant to the Gen Ys, such as the never ending feud on the housing market and affordability crisis.

In 2014, Matt wrote leading single ‘Air’ about the tragic Darling Street fire, in honour of the community he was heavily involved in. Absorbing and channeling the emotions and perspective of all those who lost family and close friends, it carries with it a sombre heft as he sings “You were the first thing I would’ve grabbed”. Matt takes us through the process behind the track, and the rest of the EP, below.

The EP was recorded between Sydney and Melbourne, with co-production credits that include Tom Iansek (Big Scary) and producer/engineer Wayne Connolly (You Am I, Paul Dempsey, Cold Chisel). If you like what you’re hearing below, you’ll be able to catch Allan Smithy as he launches the EP on a free East Coast tour.

Track By Track With Allan Smithy

The Streets

I wrote this song with Tom Iansek. I’d had the idea in my head for at least a year, so when we came to laying it down it happened very quickly. It was all based of the guitar riff and then I really wanted that male/female vocal in the verse (I was envisaging Lindy Morrisonesque), which Jo was able to assist with. So once they were covered the rest of the song just fell into place.

The song is just about chasing down a run away. The idea that while you can run and the streets might hide you, the streets will not hide me when I come looking for you. I had the original idea while walking my dog. He bolted off once while I tried to walk him off lead as a puppy. Bad idea. Good result.

Four Letter Reason

I can’t remember exactly where the idea came from except that I was trying to play a different song and played it completely wrong which resulted in this song. It’s pretty much about living at home in your mid 20’s while all of your friends are out kicking goals in the world. I suppose it also throws a little shade on the Sydney housing market, which is insane at the moment.

Air

I wrote this song after the Darling street fire in 2014. I lived just around the corner and was pretty involved in the Rozelle community prior to the explosion (I worked at the local pub). I remember being woken up by the whole house shaking and walking outside to see a wall of fire and glass and devastation along the streets. It was a pretty full on moment – some people thought it was a terrorist attack. It wasn’t until later in the day that I found out 3 people had died, and this song is kind of from the view of a guy who lost his entire family in the fire.

Wasted Years

This song is basically about that point in time when you are in your late 20’s and you start to encounter these child protégés who are better than you at what you do and who haven’t necessarily been to university. And it makes you think “Was Uni worth it?” and “why did I go.” Sometimes it feels as though we go to uni because that’s just what people in their 20’s do. They might not actually get anything out of it, but they went anyway because they felt they were supposed to.