Sing a sweet Melodie

Sydney singer-songwriter Lia Tsamoglou cut her teeth in the experimental drone duo Moonmilk and the alt-folk group Rand and Holland.

Surprising, then, that her debut solo album Meditations on the Sun (released under the moniker Melodie Nelson) is a shimmering, layered salute to ’60s girl groups and Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound production style.

Since its release in June, the concise nine-song collection has been a critics’ darling, and mainstream success seems likely.

“I really enjoyed being in Moonmilk, but because it was all experimental and improvised I never had to write ‘songs’,” Tsamoglou said.

“The music I’ve been listening to for the past four or five years has all been from the ’60s, so I thought it was time I give it a go and write a collection of songs that make reference to that era.

“But there’s still some Moonmilk in there in terms of the layers, textures and the loops I’ve used.”

Indeed, while she coos and sighs like a Ronette on tracks like the lush Tonight, Meditations isn’t a slavish recreation of the past — the aforementioned loops and layers bring the record bang up to date.

“In my mind I wanted it to sound big band-y, but due to lack of resources I had to play everything myself,” she laughed. “I didn’t want it to sound too retro — I hate that word anyway.

“I had to keep checking as I recorded that I was adding my own element to the songs and they didn’t just sound like copies of the music I was listening to.”

INFO: Melodie Nelson, GoodGod Club (Sydney) September 3, Grace Darling (Melbourne) September 10. Meditations on the Sun (Other Tongues) out now.

Melodie Nelson ‘Orpheus, She’s Gone’ Behind the Scenes from Mike Williams on Vimeo.