Angie McMahon has released her first official single of the year, “Just Like North”.
The song, which was written at the same time as her acclaimed 2023 album Light, Dark, Light Again, is an ode to embracing hurt and uncertainty as being part of life, and trusting the purpose the latter serves.
“‘Just Like North’ is one of my favourites from the writing period of Light, Dark, Light Again, and it was recorded in Durham, NC with a bunch of the other songs on the record,” says McMahon.
“In the end it didn’t fit into the sequencing, and I always wanted to put it out somehow. It was written in a School of Song session led by Courtney Marie Andrews, who prompted us to respond in some way to a beautiful poem called ‘You Can’t Have It All’ by Barbara Ras. This one was also mixed by Alex O’Gorman. We’ve been playing it on tour lately because it holds the album theme of trusting in the course of failure and rebirth.”
“Just Like North” will be familiar to anyone that’s seen McMahon play live recently. She first performed the single on her May-June Australian tour, which saw the Melbourne singer-songwriter sell out 12 of 14 shows.
McMahon featured in our ‘Future of Music’ series this year, our list of 25 of the most exciting and innovative artists from Australia and Aotearoa we believe are destined for the very top.
“In a country spoiled for choice when it comes to singer-songwriters, Angie McMahon still manages to stand out from her Australian (and global) peers. Her latest album, Light, Dark, Light Again, contained some of the most profoundly moving lyricism of the decade so far,” we wrote.
“It takes a special artist to make you feel less alone in the vastness of the world, but that’s what McMahon achieves in her songs, instilling them with mantras that urge both her and her listeners to relinquish, breathe, and find light through the darkness. We’re lucky to have brave songwriters like McMahon embracing the feelings we’re afraid to face.”
Angie McMahon’s “Just Like North” is out now via AWAL.
