The other day I decided to throw myself in the deep end and view the most recently added tracks from Sydney on Triple J Unearthed for work. I just needed one track. Petiguana’s debut single ‘Wayside’ was the first song to come up, and it took 20 seconds to convince me it was the only one I needed to hear. Long story short, it’s been on repeat all week.
(Photo Credit: Aaron from N47 Films)
There’s so much to appreciate here; that wonderful neo-soul meets jazz sound, the warm production, the many twists and turns this track takes you on… but chiefly (heh), it’s that voice. Frontwoman Madeline Powers delivers an oustanding vocal performance here, straddling a fine line between soulful and expressive, and confident, commanding.
To put it succinctly: Wayside is of a quality that belies the relative youth of this project. I mean, the band’s only been around for a little over 6 months. Who knew a blues guitarist, a jazz bassist and drummer and a classically-trained singer and keyboardist would come together for such a cohesive and thrilling project?
I always knew Sydney had a strong soul scene, but with a growing list of artists including (but not limited to) The Baldwins, New Venusians, Levingstone, Inês the Iny, and even more genre-bending acts like Floating Pyramids, Godriguez and Wallace, I think this city is proving itself as the soul capital of Australia. To me, Petiguana has solidified this view.
Petiguana on Facebook, Soundcloud and Triple J Unearthed
(P.S If you’re after more from Petiguana, they posted a cover of Anderson .Paak’s tune Celebrate a few weeks before releasing ‘Wayside’. Dunno about you, but this one gave me goosebumps.)