Photo Credit: She is Aphrodite

If you’re not already paying attention to the Australian music scene, Phebe Starr is one good reason to start. Her new EP, the enigmatically named Ice Tea Liberace, which was released Friday, August 30^th, is the perfect starting place for anyone coming down off of a summer romance and needs a good kick into “bad-bitch” gear. In just four tracks, Starr’s booming choruses and energetic vocals take you through the full gamut of post break-up emotions: from the agony of loss, to being back on the prowl. The record also pushes forward sonically, favoring an edgier electro-pop approach, over her earlier somewhat more commercial sound.

The first single off of the EP, “Touch XXX”, deals in the visceral feelings of loss post breakup. That aching you feel when you know you can’t be with someone in the way you’ve been used to. That’s the reason for the ‘XXX’. Phebe has noted in a previous interview that no one ever warned her how explicit and adult these visceral feelings of loss could be. “Touch” pulls you in with a subtle crescendo and makes all the right unexpected moves in all the right places, letting Starr’s airy belt be the star of the show. It’s a raw start to the EP, but it lifts you up just enough to make for an easy transition into the next single, “Bad News”. This track is decidedly more flirtatious than the last, but the hurt doesn’t totally disappear. The beat has a playful skip to accompany the change in tone, but lyrically the track tells of the transition from the pain of loss to a protective layer of bitterness, with a subtle layer of self-blame residing underneath. This is displayed during the shift to the bridge, when Starr sonically lets that defensive wall down and allows pulsating beats give way to mellow vocals able to admit the dissatisfaction with the way things ended.

Title track and most recent single, “Ice Tea Liberace”, is where Starr seems to fully step into herself. Feeling like a “regular Liberace” she sonically struts, sips ice tea, and brings a fun off-beat energy to the EP. The song comes in with heavy pulsating beats perfectly juxtaposed with lilting harps– which somehow builds into a hip hop influenced sound that manages to evoke both Old Hollywood and the wild west. It’s a fun track for feeling yourself and embracing a full Liberace-like glamour.

“Break the Law” is the one track off the EP that has not been released as a single; it also happens to be the shortest and the most straight-up pop. The chorus hits as a bit of a disappointment, feeling basic and repetitive where as the rest of the track actually delivers quite a bit of intrigue with a fun beat and heavier hitting bass than the rest of the EP. “Break the Law” seems to bring us full circle in Phebe’s story, driving back into the pursuit of a new lover.

In under fifteen minutes Phebe Starr has proved that she’s able to craft a full story track by track. The cycle of post-breakup grief she details showcases her lyrical maturity and prowess, while the musical direction of the EP gives audience a good indication of where she seems to be heading as an artist. Ice Tea Liberace feels like the next step forward in Starr’s progression towards joining the ranks of other hip-hop/electronic geared pop artists like Kim Petras and Sizzy Rocket (though the two occupy vastly different sub-spheres)– which makes us very interested to see what she does next.

You can stream Ice Tea Liberace below.