INTERVIEW: Vetta Borne on third EP 'Rose Avenue, Vol. 1': "Even though it was really sad at the time, it's something that needed to happen in order for me to be where I am today."

Interview: Jett Tattersall

It has been three years since singer/songwriter/producer Maribelle Anes launched her new project as Vetta Borne, and in that time she has grown in stature, confidence and acclaim with every release. Her music has its foundation in R&B and soul but also encompass funk, disco and pop. Her 2020 single ‘Girls’ has accumulated over 2 million streams and last year’s ‘Kissing Strangers’ was given full rotation on Triple J resulted in close to 700k streams to date.

At the end of October, she released her third EP Rose Avenue, Vol. 1 and it continues her funk-R&B mix across five glorious tracks. The EP details the collapse of a relationship and each track represents a different stage in the process from grief to acceptance.

“Writing this EP was hard,” she says. “Writing Rose Avenue, Vol. 1 was my therapy, my way of trying to understand and process the ending of a relationship that had meant a lot to me. I spent a lot of time in my bedroom, the lyrics came easy as I was just pouring out what I was feeling, but the production was what I spent a lot of time focusing on. I tried different variations of each song, trying to keep the emotion of the songs, but at the same time make sure they were well produced.”

The EP opens with ‘Wasn’t It Good’, which looks back with melancholy on a relationship and remembering all the good parts. It is a smooth, gentle R&B-pop track with its heavy beat reminiscent of trip-hop. ‘The Joint’ is a moody, dramatic track with elements of soul and sees Borne channelling her anger at the way things turned out: ‘And I cried, not gonna lie / You pushed the bullets inside’.

‘Say Less’ is a more pure hip-hop/R&B track with a sultry feel as Borne sings about finding her feelings again through sex: ‘I just need your body / You're what I need.’ First single ‘Sad Girl’ is as incredible as ever, probably the most upbeat track on the EP with a perky electro beat and gorgeous melodies. It marks the beginning of Borne’s emergence after the heartbreak: ‘I will not cry / 'Cause I'm done being a sad girl / Right now is the time of my life.’

The EP ends with another sensual track, ‘Sex Is Therapy’ which again explores acceptance and the healing powers of embracing another sexual relationship, no matter how short-term it may be. Under two minutes long, it is a slinky, breathy R&B-pop track with saxophone that is the perfect late night jam.

With Rose Avenue, Vol. 1 Borne has again proven she is one of Australia’s most talented, and possibly underrated artists. Her music is honest, relatable, genre-less, expertly put together and an absolute blast to listen to - which you will want to do on repeat. We recently caught up with Borne to chat more about the creation of the EP.

Hi Maribelle, so lovely to see you today. You have just released this beautiful new EP Rose Avenue, Vol. 1., it is gorgeous. Talk to me about this, this collection.
The reason I named it Rose Avenue, Vol. 1 is because Rose Avenue is my childhood home, that's the street that I grew up on. The whole EP is written around a recent heartbreak that I went through late last year. I was going through a heartbreak and it made me go back home, go back to Rose Avenue and spend time with my family and just reconnect with myself and remember that life is so much more than some of the relationships I have, all the people that come and go. So the whole EP is based around the process and the grief and the feelings, the roller coaster that you go through when you're dealing with heartbreak.

I like that. Also, I guess you feel suddenly very alone and so the remedy for that is to go back to a place before the confusion of romantic relationships, where your comfort came from family and childhood friends. It follows on, hand in hand, from your first two EPs Violeta and then Emelia, named after your grandmothers. You have this beautiful thread where as sexy as your music is, it always takes us straight back home, which I think is beautiful.
Yeah, remembering where I came from is a big, big thing that I always have to think about. It's very easy to get lost, especially ever since I've moved towards the city, it's easy to get lost in the scene and other things. But coming back home is something that my whole family always tells me, just remember where you come from.

I want to ask you about the opening track, ‘Wasn't It Good’. It's just this beautiful kind of purer that sets up the whole mood. I loved it and I replayed it, and then I jumped online and saw what I just want to call a music cooking show where you showed us how you produced that song and put it together in your bedroom, and it's so gorgeous and t's so good to see the inner workings of it. Talk to me about this track.
The meaning of the song stems from a few past relationships that I've had. I first wrote that chorus like six years ago about an ex boyfriend when I wasn't completely gay. He moved overseas to go chase his dream and I was really just like ‘no you’re the love of my life don't go!’ As life goes on, obviously, I figured out who I was, I figured out my queerness and I wouldn't have figured this out if that person was still in my life. So I'm able to look back on this relationship and be like that was actually really beautiful, even though it was really sad at the time, it's something that needed to happen in order for me to be where I am today.

I like that. And with regards to showing the audience you constructing the music, what propels you to do that? Letting people into anything other than perfection can be daunting, so to put on display this construction, and also your hurdles, it's quite something.
I don't think I ever really think about it, I try not to think about who's gonna hear my music, specifically the people who I write the songs about! I try not to think if they're gonna listen to it, just so it doesn't give me that ‘oh, let's not put it out, it's making me anxious’. I don't ever want to do that to myself. So when I write, I just write what I'm feeling, whatever it is that I'm feeling, whether it's good, whether it's bad. And then if the song is great, I just put it out and I don't think about it.

You created this whole EP in your house, all the instruments, all the productions, all the technology. It's beautiful. And then the EP closes with ‘Sex Is Therapy’ which I just love and there's a saxophone - of course there’s a saxophone! Talk to me about this track.
I'm really inspired by old hip hop, like A Tribe Called Quest and stuff like that. I had this beat and I was at that part of grief in a breakup where you're just completely over it and you're ready to start a new journey, I just need to love myself. I'm done with being sad, I want to feel hot again, I want to feel sexy again. That’s exactly where I was at and I just started making this beat and the song just kind of happened. I don't know how else to explain it. I was like, ‘I'm just gonna name it ‘Sex Is Therapy’ because this beats feels therapeutic.’

You are clearly one hell of a songstress. You also write and produce for other artists other than yourself. When we last spoke, you talked about creating a safe space as a producer, and as a songwriter, when you're working with other people. With that in mind, when you are creating music for you, you're the one controlling all the aspects of that space. How do you block out those inner demons, because you don't have you saying ‘no, it’s cool, just keep going’?
Honestly, I think every second song that I write is probably terrible, especially while I'm writing it. I just feel like I'm getting nowhere with it. I write the song and then I leave it, come back to it a week later, and I'm like, ‘Oh, this is awesome!’ It's a back and forth battle between myself whether song is a good or not. Something that helps me really realise if a song is good or not is sending it to my team. As a musician, as a creator, who creates constantly, I don't even feel like I know what's good and what's bad anymore. I'm just creating for the sake of creating because I love to do it. So I depend on my team to tell me if they think songs are good enough to put out.

I love that. I am just loving that you recently covered ‘Cool’ on Like A Version, it's so beautiful. What was the choice behind that one?
I'm Filipino, so karaoke is a big part of my life! ‘Cool’ has always been that song for me that I am just so drawn to. The second that I saw that music video, I just fell in love with that song even more. When I was asked to do Like A Version I already knew that song was something that I really wanted to do. I didn't think anybody else had done it yet, and I was like, ‘how does this not exist yet? I'll do it!’

You have some glorious shows coming up, which is very exciting. Let's face it, the world's only really just opening up again, and how is it going to be exercising that performance muscle again?
Yeah, it's going to be interesting! I think it's just going tp be big party. A lot of people have been just dying to go to live music and go out and be out and enjoy themselves. So I’m really excited for it. I am actually working on the live set right now, putting together the band and showing everybody what they're going to play. I'm so excited. I had a tour last year, but this show is going to be completely different, which I'm excited for.

Rose Avenue, Vol. 1 is out now via Soul Modern. You can buy and stream here.

To keep up with all things Vetta Borne you can follow her on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

Vetta Borne will be touring through November. More information and tickets are here