“There’s a lucid quality to Lily’s voice, a desire for simplicity, whilst yearning for mystery. It’s the tension between these aspects that makes things interesting when one person opens up to another. It makes possible passion and pain, healing and hurt, longing and lust”
“… emotional honesty is not a job for the 9-5 inclined, and part of the confession here is one we can all recognise … is this attraction the start of something special, or is it a sexual thing, and can’t that sexual thing be special?”
Something about movies and music goes together. It feels sometimes there’s a place where they co-exist, a timeless place somewhere in America where silver-shelled diners welcome the lovelorn, where bruised romantics in just-so hats come for eggs over easy and a coffee, and linger to check out the mystery looker who pulled up outside in a candy-red Cadillac.
As with any song or movie featuring a woman and a man, you know that love is at stake. And writer Billie Reid delivers a characteristically truthful lyric from a songbook that you just know gets written in during the wee small hours – emotional honesty is not a job for the 9-5 inclined, and part of the confession here is one we can all recognise … is this attraction the start of something special, or is it a sexual thing, and can’t that sexual thing be special?
The soundscape of ‘My Love’ suggests such a place, not through any specific details of Americana, but for its general air of heightened reality. Like Billie himself says, “I write from heart when spirit moves me”, and this song has the feel of something that expressed itself fully-formed. There’s an effortless vibe about the way it unfolds, something right about it like a white picket fence, yet with that sense of wrong underneath you’ll see in the films of David Lynch.
What stands out here is the combination of depth and finesse. All too often, capable players and quality production are put in the service of material that frankly doesn’t deserve it. Here, the instrumentation on ‘My Love’ is sympathetic and un-showy. Plaintive guitar expresses itself as it does to serve the lyric, which is what true musicianship is about. Pianist Paul Bley once commented that a piano has 88 notes, but he’d got his playing down to the handful that meant something to him. There’s a similar commitment to making every note work in this song. No need to embellish when singers and song are already delivering with conviction.
There’s a lucid quality to Lily’s voice, a desire for simplicity, whilst yearning for mystery. It’s the tension between these aspects that makes things interesting when one person opens up to another. It makes possible passion and pain, healing and hurt, longing and lust.
Charlie Reynolds
Australian singer-songwriter-artist Lily is no stranger to life on the road. This backpacking yellow bird with Eurasian heritage has seen corners of the world that many musicians only dream of visiting, widely expanding her already versatile pallet by way of country, soul and acoustic music. Harbouring a steadfast affinity with the Indian Ocean lends an easy-listening ear to Lily’s songs: it’s no wonder she claims “essence of music is in honesty and connectivity, the ideal performance a blend of tangible expression and quiet composure.”
Working once again with long term collaborator and poet-writer Billie Reid, Lily’s beautiful vocal amplifies the resounding strength behind the lyrics of her new release ‘My Heart’. Although the song is essentially about heart-break, there’s an underlying power brought by Lily’s assertion that she’s willing to go “through the fires of hell” to find her way back to love. Nevertheless, ‘My Heart’ also has a yearning sense of helplessness that only adds to its romance.
A standing point of the music is Billie Reid’s songwriting: thick with poetic references and tales of loss, on paper it looks like a beautiful love letter, but when sung by Lily the words transform into a powerful message. Lily’s talent has been woefully undiscovered so far, but if ‘My Heart’ proves anything, it’s that those who find her music are in for a stunning surprise.
“Talented singer-songwriter Billie Reid and charming Nightingale Lily breathe life into music”
The talented singer-songwriter and visionary, Billie Reid and the charming nightingale Lily, are two gifted musicians imbuing tenderness and authenticity into the heart of their music. With Billie’s poetic facility and Lily’s sweet, savory voice, the two musical pros offer a meal for our ears with a more appetizing and innovative flair. Abandoning the bandwagon of trendy, sell-out lyrics and provocative melodies, the artists breathe passion and honesty into their songs.
This passion is sensitively reinforced in Lily’s music videos for her ‘Dreamer’ EP, which captures her as she sings two Billie Reid penned tracks in a live studio setting. Lily offers us uninhibited sincerity as she evokes the honesty of Norah Jones and the soulful, reflective emotion of Bailey Ray. There is an unencumbered naturalism about the setting, the realism and authenticity is accentuated exposing the trueness behind Billie’s lyrics. Her sentiment matches brilliantly with her rich, silky voice, creating a powerful penetrating effect.
Lily does not try to be a glittery, melodramatic twenty-something belting out bogus love songs. Rather, she confronts these tacky clichés, breathing courage and grace into the core of her music. Lily possesses a rare, effortless sophistication filled with nuances of serenity that is calming to the soul, and is truly the ideal voice to convey the expressive metaphors and sweet harmonies of Billie’s music. Through Lily’s musical tranquility and Billie Reid’s artistic lyrics, we receive a refreshing treat for the senses.
* Somewhere in the embers of last century, the work of songwriter, poet, shaman Billie Reid started to exert a pull on other independent-minded Australian talents. Stories can, and maybe will, be read about those adventures. At this point, the vessel for that work has, since 2020, been our music production biz Soundscape Media.
Billie Reid’s talents are the molten core of what we do. To those who’ve come across him, Billie’s an irascible generational talent. And we want the number of those who share that impression to grow.
Sharing the load, and bringing a canny female take on Billie’s words, is versatile Fremantle-based singer and classy piano player Lily – who’s also writing impressive material of her own.
Our artist collaboration list also includes in-house stormcrow Quinlan Porteous – a man who’s weathered years of industry bs and continues to find redemption in music regardless. As do we all.
Let’s hear it too for Wayne A Halifax, the man whose vibe Chris Isaak channelled. And never mind which came first – sometimes those who follow get it right, and Wayne has the advantage of Billie’s lyrics. As does Alfredo Malabello, cursed by Universal Music Australia describing him as the country’s “Voice of Romance”. He’s more content, and rightly, with the tag “Australia’s Leonard Cohen”.
Soundscape sounds dip in and out of alt-rock, Americana, and smart pop. Our production styles range from roots-raw to Netflix-friendly rock with splashes and squeals of electronica. We can do polished, but we’re a fan of loose edges and first take magic too. And we look forward to hearing from you – about what we’ve done, what we’re doing now, and what we could perhaps do together. Soundscape Media.
