TRACKLISTING
1. Canopy
2. Injuries
3. The Tiger Dream
4. Something Strange is About to Happen
Happy Axe’s third full-length album, The Tiger Dream, sees the Naarm-based producer and multi-instrumentalist exploring the full breadth of her sonic palette, showcasing her talents for pop songwriting as well as lush ambient soundscapes.
Sonically the record is inspired by Happy Axe (Emma Kelly)’s ongoing connection with nature and dreams, drawing from scenes from her walks, rides, and surfs around Australia’s coastline, as well as the magic of being outside at night. Kelly says of the album: “The Tiger Dream is an album named after a dream I had. I was in the most beautiful landscape, the bush where I grew up in Belmore Falls. I saw a beautiful young tiger slinking between the trees. Just as I was admiring its beauty it started to attack.”
The Tiger Dream represents a tender and reflective chronicling of a time of great upheaval in Kelly’s life, with songs that express the devastation of love lost sitting alongside homages to the way new love reflects nature in its constant slow and powerful changes.
As well as a cathartic outlet, the record also represents a time of creative growth and curiosity for Kelly, expressed primarily through her collaborations with instrumentalists Siwei and Adrian on the LP, as she states: “I had harp and flute on a song just because I was curious about making harp the basis instead of violin. I also had one of my oldest friends work on a song with me for the first time, despite us studying together over 10 years ago.” The result is a compelling new evolution in Happy Axe’s sound, arriving just in time to carry her through a heartbreak.
Released October 27, 2023
All songs composed, recorded and produced by Emma Kelly
Vocals, violin, and saw performed by Emma Kelly
Harp performed by Siwei Wong
Flute performed by Adrian Failla
Mixed by Theo Carbo
Mastered by Lachlan Carrick
Photograph by Camilo Perez Rodriguez
DIGITAL