ALISON WONDERLAND
AWAKE
I used to listen Alison Wonderland in 2009 in her early days DJing at QBar on Oxford Street, when it was still a thing, and when I thought sneaking in Jim Beam was the hip (flask) thing to do. The Sydney nightlife has obviously changed dramatically over the years, but out of the sleepiness of a lockout-laden landscape, her new album, aptly-titled AWAKE, injects a much needed burst of adrenaline to rouse us out of our slumber.
Instead of trying to top her massive 2015 debut album Run, Wonderland (real name Alexandra Sholler) here delves deeper at some of the more personal issues of the life she has now found herself in – trusting her own voice over the people around her, questioning her own skill, and the struggles of breakups. She does this whilst still maintaining upbeat, interesting and characteristic melodies and hooks. The album is lush and layered, and builds on her already established distinctive style.
There is an underlying feeling throughout the album that parallels the progression of a night out, from pre-drinks to blurrily jumping around on a dancefloor (and everything in between) in tracks like ‘Good Girls Bad Boys’, ‘HERE 4 U’ and ‘High’; to drinking, crying, confusion and vomiting in a gutter in ‘Hope’ and ‘Sometimes Love’; to hooking up in ‘Cry’ and ‘Church’; and to seeing the sunrise alone, embracing the existential dread, and questioning every decision you’ve ever made in the title/closing track and ‘Easy’.
Standout track ‘Dreamy Dragon’ delivers an ultra groovy and evolving beat from start to finish, which gets bigger with synths in the chorus, and with new collaborator Chief Keef on guest vocals. ‘HERE 4 U’ and ‘High’ both bring a deep bass to the pit of your stomach only otherwise felt in a dank rave at 3 a.m., and interesting industrial-inspired beats. The contrast between the ethereal verses and dynamic choruses of ‘Okay’ works well, not to mention the last minute being enough to send you into a trance. ‘Easy’ is sure to be a favourite with its characteristic Alison Wonderland tone, interesting in its optimistic, uplifting melody against a melancholic tone and subject matter. ‘Happy Place’ is interesting in its mesh of harmonic string-based synths with an aggressive Princess Nokia sounding rap near the end.
In AWAKE, Sholler has also honed her skill for collaboration, in her choice of both new and established acts, on both home soil and internationally. Her collaboration with Ohio-born trap rapper Trippie Redd in ‘High’ embodies her continual desire for genre blending and exploration. Locally, she revisits a friendly face in the SLUMBERJACK collaboration ‘Sometimes Love’, having last worked together on ‘Naked’ in 2015. She ventures into new and smaller acts such as Blessus, which pays off big time in the outstanding track ‘HERE 4 U’, further demonstrating her acute ear for talent. This finger on the pulse attitude and aspirations to help grow establishing acts will help her carve her unique signature into the bedrock of Australian music, and help it to flourish.
On 22 September 2017, Sholler was named New Artist of the Year at the Electronic Music Awards, which is probably why she’ll popping up in a bunch of festivals around the world this year, not least of all being Coachella in April. This, coupled with the evolution in depth of tracks in AWAKE, means she is at the threshold of moving into a much more interesting position globally in a very short time.