When Angie McMahon reached number five on the ARIA charts following the release of her debut album Salt, fans of the Victorian musician realised this was only the latest highlight in an already exceptional career.
Barely one year later, and the music scene itself was an entirely different landscape to what it had been, with artists heading online as gigs temporarily became a thing of the past due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
McMahon was just one of these artists, premiering a number of piano renditions of her catalogue for the Online Solo Piano Concert in late July. The concert premiered as part of the lead-up to her forthcoming Piano Salt EP, which sees the artist reimagining songs from her debut onto the piano, along with a couple of covers.
Now, as the EP’s release date looms closer, McMahon has shared the piano version of “Soon”, which not only opens the EP, but showcases her skills as one of the country’s most passionate and accomplished performers.
The track also comes accompanied by a music video, shot by sound engineer and tour manager, Jono Steer, and Angie herself, which serves as equal parts tour diary and isolation documentary, contrasting footage of McMahon on tour with Hozier and the stark reality of lockdown living.
“This is a mixture of footage from my home in lockdown, when everything went slow, and the Hozier tour that I joined in November last year when everything was moving so fast,” McMahon explains.
“We were travelling around America, my sound engineer Jono and I, following the Hozier bus and having our own adventures every day. I’m so grateful he kept the go pro on for that month, and that the audiences were so warm, and that I have a safe and comfortable home to slow down in now. Thank you to our friend Lewis Parsons who edited all of this together so flawlessly.”
“The way that Lewis has cut together the footage is brilliant,” adds Steer. “It really shows the contrast between the three parts of being a touring musician – the shows, the travel and the calm of getting home after it all.
“The coming together of this footage and the melancholy mood of the music creates something that hasn’t really been shown before, and that is the loneliness and isolation of being on the road. It also shows that behind all the glitz and glamour of the concert, there are people – musicians, crew, managers – who have homes to get to, and jobs to do. It’s one of the most honest depictions of touring I’ve seen and I’m glad to have been a part of it!”
The arrival of the song and its video comes alongside the announcement that McMahon will also be re-screening her Online Solo Piano Concert on Wednesday, October 7th. The re-screen also welcomes 22-year-old LA native Jensen McRae to perform on guitar throughout the performance.
Currently working on her debut album with Grammy Award-winning producer, Rahki (Eminem, Kendrick Lamar), Jensen is a bi-racial black and Jewish woman who has grown up predominantly in white spaces, with her music exploring aspects of identity, race, gender, depression, and unrequited love.
Angie McMahon’s Salt Piano EP will be released on October 2nd, with pre-orders available now. Tickets to McMahon’s Online Solo Piano Concert are on sale from Wednesday, September 16th via Ticketmaster.
Angie McMahon – An Online Solo Piano Concert Re-Screening
Wednesday, October 7th (Worldwide)
Tickets: Ticketmaster
Tickets on sale from Wednesday, September 16th
