Someone give Stella Donnelly one of those vintage ribbon microphones and an early slot at the comedy club. Actually, a guitar and a venue stage should suffice for now, but let it be known that this Australian singer/songwriter rivals Mrs. Maisel in her abilities to pair humor with heartbreak and absolutely command a room. She’s an ace with a crowd, but her real talent for wordplay shows up in the masterful lyrics on her debut EP, Thrush Metal, a name that only serves to sound “cool,” . That title might only be a slick word-pairing, but the music itself is chock full of meaning—wise words on awful men, victim blaming and dwindling relationships, as well as blossoming ones.
Boys Will Be Boys is my attempt at making sense of society’s tendency to blame the victims of sexual assault and rape and make excuses for the perpetrators. It was also my way of dealing with certain events that were occurring in my life at the time. The video itself was intended to express the burden of victim blaming and sexual assault on the victims themselves as the mundane aspects of life go on. A song is just a song but at the very least I hope it will open up difficult yet important conversations between family members, friends, government bodies, organisations and most importantly, boys and men.
It’s hard to decide which is more the standout track, the searing “Mechanical Bull” or “Boys Will Be Boys,” a #MeToo anthem for the ages. Thankfully, we don’t have to choose, but the latter is the song many needed to hear in 2018, especially after Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Supreme Court: “Boys will be boys” is not a viable excuse for, as Donnelly puts it, “invading her magnificence.” Nor is beer. In fact, there’s never an excuse. And maybe all of the tracks on Thrush Metal are standouts. This EP is a truly magnificent bud to Donnelly’s blooming discography.
Stella Donnelly’s ’Thrush Metal EP’, out digitally released on June 22nd 2018 on Secretly Canadian.
The Fat Angel Sings 