Bertie Blackman - Heart (Single)

For those not in the know, Ms Blackman is the ever-chimerical Sydney rock darling, who has been kicking around since her debut single, Favourite Jeans, dropped in 2004. What has always struck me about Bertie is that her songs are uncompromisingly raw; in fact seeing her play live is a testament to this fact.

Raised as a drummer before shifting over to guitar in her teens, Blackman exemplifies somebody who straddles the harmonic and rhythmic divide with zeal and abandon. Thus, she's more likely to attack her axe like it's a percussion instrument than sweetly strum chords, and this was self-evident on her last LP, Black, where tracks like Hold Me Close and Fast Bitch boasted syncopated riffage worthy of a metal record, all framed by her wonderful voice.

So anyways, Bertie's back, back again, and this time she's taken more of a electronic tack. Lead single Heart, to be taken from her forthcoming album released in June, has been doing the rounds on local radio and its very impressive. Initial impression; Blackman's been listening to a lot of industrial rock music. There's about a hundred drum sounds and random sound sources operating in every beat of the verse, and it really echoes the era of Nine Inch Nails when Trent Reznor wasn't bitching about Chris Cornell on Twitter. Of course, then we break out into a pop chorus complete with 'ooh la la la' backing vocals that could have come from the 1950s. It's an interesting dichotomy, and one which only Bertie could likely pull off without looking like an absolute git.

This is the kind of track that could very easily become a massive hit if Australians stopped listening to imported shit and started embracing the good stuff under their noses. There's very little not to like; it's edgy, it's sexy and it's entirely risk-free

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