Nat Vazer is a rising, Melbourne-based singer/songwriter, who can trace the origins of her career to learning classical piano between the ages of five and 14. But throughout her life, Vazer has had a long-held fascination with singer/songwriters and bands, having grown up with her family’s record collection from the 60s, 70s and 80s. As a high schooler, the Melbourne-based artist stole her father’s guitar and started to learn Nirvana, The Strokes, and Death Cab for Cutie songs from internet guitar tabs.
In true DIY fashion, and like countless other young, aspiring musicians, she began writing songs in a high school punk bands, and attempting to record that material on old PCs with built-in microphones and free software.
Vazer’s full-length solo debut 2020’s Robert Muiños-produced Is This Offensive and Loud? was released by Hotel Motel Records in Australia and Perpetual Doom Records here in the States. The album featured hit singles “For A Moment” and “Higher Places” and received critical applause at home and elsewhere: The album was nominated for a 2020 Australian Music Prize and laded on several Best Album of the Year Lists, including NME Australia, The Music, and others across the globe.
Earlier this year, Vazer released “Addicted to Misery,” the slow-burning first single off her highly-anticipated sophomore album, slated for release later this year. Rooted in the sort of deeply confessional lyricism that has drawn comparisons of her work to Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus, Julia Jacklin, and others, “Addicted to Misery” saw Vazer subtly pushing her sound in a more folk-tinged, pop direction: a finger-picked, looping guitar line,. gently stuttering drums and atmospheric electronics were paired with Vazer’s achingly delicate, yearning vocal.
Vazer describes the forthcoming album as a fast cat on a lost highway, searching for the unknown. “Each song on th album is a unique story told through the people, places and memories that have shaken me and stayed with me over time,” Vazer says of her sophomore album.
The album’s third and latest single “Strange Adrenaline” is an atmospheric and introspective track built around reverb-soaked propulsive drumming, gently buzzing guitar paired with Vazer’s achingly plaintive delivery and the Aussie artist’s penchant for heart-worn-on-sleeve, earnest lyricism and catharsis-inducing choruses.
“In the world of ‘Strange Adrenaline,’ there are 2 am diners where it’s too dangerous for lovers to hang, long drives back to childhood places, dark tales of Hollywood, recurring trauma, and visions of global warming and the end of days,” Vazer explains. “‘Strange Adrenaline’ were two words that jumped out at me one late night, while reading a Patti Smith novel. The phrase captures that feeling of when you’re on the brink of something terrifying but extraordinary.”
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