Energetic Mind

Small Pond Records have signed Sydney, Australia-based art-folk virtuoso Bonniesongs, aka Bonnie Stewart, release her debut album Energetic Mind. For a peck of audiences in Australia over the past couple of years, Stewart has been one of those subtly transcendent artists. Described as “dreamy experimental indie folk”, she’s steadily been creating an ever-broadening platform for her unique sound amongst the Sydney songwriting scene.

On much of her earlier material, Stewart’s sweet, ghostly vocals sail over the polyrhythmic backgrounds created between her mandolin, percussion and vocal loops, while her imaginative lyrics tell diverse and dreamlike stories of treehouses, mice, birds, flying and video games. Her four track debut EP Strings (2018) was released on Art Is Catharsis, a bold collaboration with friends Sascha Bota and Freya Schack-Arnott. Six days after a one-off performance as a trio, they made a recording of their experimental, textural and improvised variations on Bonnie's songs.

The record was influenced by Jim Black’s improvised jazz record AlasNoAxis, drawing comparisons to Joanna Newsom, Cat Power, and Bjork, and was widely praised for challenging conventions of modern Australian music.