INTERVIEW: Blusher on their debut EP 'Should We Go Dance?': "We want our music to energise people and fill them with sparkly, chaotic confidence."

Image: Tom Lewis

Melbourne pop trio Blusher - made up of Miranda Ward, Lauren Coutts and Jade Ingvarson-Favretto - only started releasing music last year, but are already shaping up as one of the most exciting pop acts on the Australian music scene.

Their music is a delicious mix of electro-synth-pop, indie and discreet touches of rock, and they have recently released their debut EP Should We Go Dance? Featuring their four singles and a brand new track, it is an infectious collection of music that is worthy not only for its mesmerising soundscape, but also for the smart lyrics that authentically tell stories of, and celebrate, girlhood and becoming a woman.

Latest single ‘Limelight’ is a powerful, swirling dance track that reflects the sensation of falling for someone and going out to the club with the sole purpose of seeing them. “Everybody else here disappears…You're the only reason I came out,” they sing. ‘Hurricane Chaser’, which closes the EP has a similar story of falling towards your crush, however this time it is more urgent, and insistent, even when you know the whole thing is full of danger: “I want you / I don’t care / I am a hurricane chaser”. Its electro-house beats morph into a more trancey sound at the end as the vocals pull out in favour of a thick beat.

‘Dead End’ also has love as its theme, but this time it is the love between friends and the joy of partying with your besties all night, and no-one can come between you. “I still want the long nights / Dancing with my drunk friends at the dead end / I’ll never give it up.”

‘Backbone’ explores the other side of love, the end of a bad relationship but still missing the one you are no longer with. The EP opener and Blusher’s debut single ‘Softly Spoken’ is still a highlight and pairs beautifully, heartbreakingly melancholic lyrics with a electronic pop foundation and a subtly driving beat that becomes more threatening as the song goes on. It expertly conveys the experience of a toxic relationship, where you allow your partner to make you smaller because you believe they are the only person you want to be with. “There’s been far too long spent falling at his feet / With my arms wide open / Didn’t interrupt him when he called me softly spoken…While I felt so used / Didn’t wanna lose him / So I was softly spoken.” It is a brilliantly created song which is all the more impressive for being the first song Blusher released.

Should We Go Dance? is an remarkable debut EP and Blusher are without a doubt a band to watch closely. They clearly have a deep love and understanding of pop music, evident through their expertly created songs and also through the inspirations they have drawn on in creating it. Their music has a mature, confident, European-Scandipop element that makes it really stand out from the rest. An EP that will you will want to return to again and again, it is evidence big things are in the future for Blusher. We recently caught up with them to chat more about the EP’s creation.

Hey Blusher! Thanks so much for chatting to us. How is everything in your world right now?
Lauren: Hi! We’re having a great time at the moment! It’s been so fun to watch our music exist in the world, we’ve gotten a lot of super kind responses so we’ve been celebrating a lot lately.

You have of course just released your debut EP Should We Go Dance?, congratulations! It is such a fantastic collection of tracks. First of all, brilliant title! Can you tell me about how you chose the title and how it symbolises the EP?
Miranda: We were inspired by conversations in the club bathroom - those strangers you meet who become your very best friend and therapist for 5 minutes. There’s a lot of camaraderie and wisdom in those conversations, which is exactly what our heart-to-heart chats in the studio feel like.  The title ‘Should We Go Dance?’ is something we would say to each other on a night out, maybe after a big cry or a D&M, before we lead each other to the middle of the dancefloor for some moments of catharsis. It felt like the perfect way to represent an EP that was written about our personal experiences, where a lot of the lyrics are pulled out of the unofficial therapy sessions we have between the three of us.

The soundscape is really brilliantly created, there are throwbacks to the 1980s synthpop sound but with a really modern, edgy pop sound. Can you tell me a little about how you want your music to sound and ‘feel’?
Jade: Thank you! The three of us share a lot of nostalgia for fizzy synths and hard hitting drum machines. We are suckers for down-the-line pop music, but we always try to incorporate an element of weirdness and distortion when we’re making our own. Lauren is incredible at chopping up our vocals and turning them into new sounds and textures within the production, which immediately makes the sound unique to us. We want our music to energise people and fill them with sparkly, chaotic confidence. When you put on our EP, we want it to feel like you’re on a night out with your friends, spinning through pink clouds on the dancefloor and spilling secrets in the club bathroom.

Your lyrics are really smart and so relatable, with a mix of heartbreak and partying with your best friends. What I think is so great about them is that they really celebrate and authentically reflect the lives and experiences of young women. Is it important to you that the lyrics of your songs are empowering and relatable to women, as well as being a blast to dance to?
Miranda: Absolutely. I think our ideal target audience is young women just like us, who can relate to the experiences we write about which are so personal to us. But we really want anyone who connects to the music to feel like we’re inviting them to become just another member of the band.  We feel that ‘hot girl pop’ is a state of mind rather than having anything to do with gender or looks.

You have also released a beautiful visualiser for latest single ‘Limelight’ which is giving me ethereal, water  nymphs vibes! Can you tell me a little about its creation?
Jade: For the ‘Limelight’ video we had this vision of a glowing pool and submerging into an ethereal sci-fi Blusher world. We wanted to capture the weightlessness and sparkly excitement of a crush. Our mood board was filled with pictures of bioluminescence, shots from the show Euphoria, shiny coloured lights underwater and grainy Super 8 footage. It turns out filming in water was a lot more difficult than we realised! We felt a bit like flailing wet rats, but our team was incredible with directing us and the shots turned out better than we could have imagined!

For those who are new to Blusher, can you tell me a little about how the band came together?
Lauren: We’ve each been in the music industry for a little while - with bands, and as solo artists making electronic pop. I had worked with Jade as a producer on one of her albums, and Miranda in her band, and then one day I had the girls over to my house and we wrote our first song ‘Softly Spoken’. Everything really just clicked into place from day one - we have such similar personality types and creative interests. We just wanted to make some fun music to dance to.  We released ‘Softly Spoken’, not thinking too much of it, and the rest is history!

You have only been releasing music for just over a year, what are the dreams and goals you have for Blusher?
Lauren: Oooh we have so many, they range from fashion to travel to making many, many albums. The most important goal is to do our best and have a fun time (and maybe DJ a fashion show lol).

You have supported Aurora on tour, and you have also just performed with Tove Lo on her Australian tour, which is incredible. How are you feeling about that?
Jade: Soo excited, we are huge fans of both artists! Tove Lo is an incredible performer, and we felt like it was the perfect match musically! We just played our first show with her last night at The Forum in Melbourne, which is our dream venue in our hometown so it was a very special night for us. Tove Lo fans are so iconic and really know how to cut shapes on the dance floor. We had the best time with her audience and loved seeing all the fabulous outfits and makeup looks!

For so many years the music industry has never been a particularly welcoming or safe space for female artists, mainly because it has been run by older, straight, white men for decades. What are your thoughts on gender (in)equality and sexism in music?
Lauren: We feel that there is a positive shift taking place in the music industry that means that more minorities are being celebrated and represented. That being said, even as a band of all women, who have hired a lot of women, we’re still outnumbered often and there’s a lot of work to be done. Our place in the music industry is owed to the powerful, resilient women who came before us.  Essentially, we hope to be that for young women too. It’s all about supporting each other in real ways, in day to day life, in the success and the failure.

Should We Go Dance? is out now, what else is coming up for you for the rest of 2023?
Lauren: We’re super excited to get back into the bedroom studio and smash out even more music. We’re so motivated by everything that’s happening at the moment, it really feeds into the energy of the new songs. We can’t wait to make and release more music, and play some more shows too!

Should We Go Dance? is out now via Warner Music Australia. You can buy and stream here.
To keep up with all things Blusher, you can follow them on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.