Your Girl Pho centres on introspection in new LP Fate So Wrong
Your girl Pho centres introspection with playful, soft sounds and unwavering vocals, in new full length release “Fate so Wrong”.
Naarm/Melbourne based creative, Pheobe Gunson AKA Your Girl Pho has a uniquely modern sound, with subtle hints from the dreamy years of vintage soul music. Pho’s smooth and raspy, thick vocal flow seem similarly effortless, and the LP feels creatively inspired by brilliant women like GreenTea Peng, Erykah Badu, Raveena, Lauryn Hill and Joy Crookes.
From beginning to end, the project’s soundscape takes you on an instrumental journey.
The title track balances curiosity with unintentionally sexy beat choices. The trappy essence forms the structure, whilst vocal layering consistently flows in and out. Phoebe’s lyrics question her emotional environment in lyrics “Fate so wrong, troubles with my wondering soul, why can’t I be that girl?”, sharing her inner dwellings. Pho begins with honesty, telling us where she’s at in life.
Follow up track Late Again is an easy listen, holding a hoppy drum beat paired with the neo-soul keys. The fade-in intro paints the picture -maintaining a steady dynamic flow throughout. Listen to this track on headphones, it'll go down a treat on your walk to work.
Tracks 3 and 4, S.A.T.O.Y.S. and Make Ur Bed share a similar vibe through percussively led with assertive vocal lines.
Make Ur Bed is seemingly the most electronica track on the record, with a sensual Doja Cat reminiscent beat, the production feels thick and expensive, the vocals remain repetitious and stimulating, serving the song well.
Fame Makes You Crazy embraces a stark tone change from the rest of album, however it balances well within the track list, while Your Girl Pho’s sound design choices for Fate So Wrong are incredibly tight and poised, the project sounds purposeful and lit from within.
Bringing the energy back down, Colour Me Confused In Pink chills out at number 6 in the LP. With spurts of energised vocal moments, lyrics asserting, “I wanna be wanted, I wanna be treasured, I wanna be princess, tell me how I'm precious”, an honest portrayal of how some women want to be in relationships, with feminine divinity. The tone reaches out and touches Australian listeners, with samples of public transport announcements.
Short and warm at 1:39 in length, Fox Mate drenches your ears with soulful production, bouncy pads and an up-tempo vocal line, “I don’t know what I’m to do, I don’t know what I’m to say, I think about it every single day”. This track is feels fun, but deals in themes of hopelessness and wanting.
You Don’t Got This has such a head nodding energy, reminiscent of 90s hip-hop beats but slower. The song provides a look into Pho’s romantic assessment of a lover, feeling disappointed and reluctant in their ability to provide what she needs. The lyrics in this song will remind you of someone who couldn’t love you the way you wanted to be loved.
Coming to the final tracks, Dreamz Fade and Too Big Too Bright relish in the sadness of their lyrical toning, yet again the drum beats provide energised sensibilities. Your Girl Pho is clearly gifted at the “sad song, fun beat” method. The rhythmically potent vocal lines in Dreamz Fade were a complete stand out on the project - it’s a song you listen to repeatedly and its always refreshing.
The finale All I Ever Wanted begins by relaxing your senses, then extends into a broken beat rhythm that lingers in and out of the track. With angelic vocal moments and harmonies reciting “you’re all I ever wanted”, the song is clearly an ode to a person greatly cherished.
The vocal mix on this album is so elegant, connecting the storyline, nourishing each track and amplifying Pho’s creation. The intimacy is captured purely whilst maintaining high-level production. Instrumentals seem to snake in and out of the songs, developing a deep relationship with her lyrics.
This is a class act of an LP and a project to be incredibly proud of.
Make sure to check it out here.