The land down under has been churning out pop that sits at the top of the heap lately, and Sydney’s one-woman-synthesizer happy Rainbow Chan is far from the fluff and fanfare that the term “electro-pop” has begun to evoke. Instead, her latest EP Long Vacation singlehandedly places her among the most innovative composers and musicians on the scene right now. More Dirty Projectors than J-Pop, Chan isn’t afraid to mix textures and sounds that lie far outside mainstream familiarity—weirdly warped bells, floating, dissonant flutes and her own voice mixed and mashed into its own mosaic of shattered parts.
She’s a singer/songwriter who can make getting a trim sound like an adventure on EP standout “Haircut”—but it’s the closing track of the release that really stuns. “Milk” devolves from low, almost guttural “ooohs” into a pseudo-scream repetition of “It’s milk! And honey!” that feels primal, personal and twists the Biblical-heavy line into something decidedly modern and corporeal. But all five tracks are really worth a listen, there’s too many little flourishes and segues into little instrumental rebellions to ignore this EP. But it on iTunes by clicking here.
