It’s winter, so there’s really no finer excuse to light a fire, make some coffee, curl up with a good book, and instantly dismiss it in favour of a video game.

Even Montaigne, AKA Jess Cerro, agrees. Sure, she might have a debut album Glorious Heights to be excited about – and honestly, it’s one of the best releases of the season – but get her talking about Final Fantasy (swoon), or better yet, Kingdom Hearts, and you’ll be chatting for hours. It’s not just the entertainment they provide, however – for Cerro, there are entire fictional cultures out there just waiting to be explored.

“OK. OK.” Cerro breathes in deeply, preparing herself. “So, my favourite games tend to be JRPGs, or puzzle/adventure games. Growing up as a kid I played a lot of Crash Bandicoot and Spyro and the Harry Potter video games. All those things where you’re just trying to figure out how to pass levels. But when I got older, I got into a game called Kingdom Hearts in a big way. Naturally from that, it stemmed into Final Fantasy ’cause they’re developed by the same people. That’s how games took over my entire life,” she laughs. “I really love them, but right now I don’t get the opportunity to play that many. But sometimes when I have free time I’ll watch video game walkthroughs, and right now I’m really eyeing off Final Fantasy XV and Mirror’s Edge Catalyst. That looks really cool. And I fell in love with Portal!”

Interviewing her from the depths of a FF IX binge, I know exactly how Cerro feels. Rather appropriately then, Glorious Heights has become my unofficial soundtrack to the game (just as I’ll never be able to separate FF VII from Sketches For My Sweetheart The Drunk) – from the moment the titular opening track kicks off, you feel as though you are stepping into some strange and enchanting new world. It’s tempting to think of the album in cinematic terms, but for Cerro the roots once again stretch back into gaming.

“I feel like [the cinema sound] probably stems from my game history and the epic soundtrack from video games. Especially JRPGs, which are all melodramatic and grandiose. I’m also really drawn to those really anthemic, stadium bangers that most people hate in Coldplay. I mean, I love Coldplay – not just their newest album, but all the older stuff. Arcade Fire as well, Björk, Sigur Rós – all of those really epic experiences in song. I’m also very drawn to the concept of the post-apocalypse for some reason, exploring the end of the world. And there are all these video games that are set in this dystopian sci-fi world. It terrifies me and awes me in equal parts. Here’s another weird paradox: I’m really averse to violence and gore and suspense. I tried to play Fallout 4 recently, and I just could. Not. Handle it. I was like, ‘This is fucked!’ Even though I like the concept, I like it more aurally.”

I don’t mean to frighten the Sydney singer unduly, but when the apocalypse does finally roll around, it doesn’t exactly sound as though she’s giving herself a fighting chance.

“Dude, legit, the zombies come and I’ll be the first one to die. I know I’m the first one to die in any horror movie. I’ve made peace with this. I’m just a fucking wimp, let’s be honest,” she laughs.

Glorious Heights is a fairly significant step forward from Montaigne’s earlier singles. Not that she has gone the way of Lana Del Rey and completely reinvented herself, but listening to songs like ‘I’m A Fantastic Wreck’ and ‘Clip My Wings’ (2014 and 2015 respectively) reveals an artist still moulding the kind of musician she’d like to be. These tracks are assured, but a different gear to what the album showcases.

“I think it’s a natural evolution that I’ve undergone. Like, I’m pretty sure the next stuff that comes out will sound even more different. Even the individual songs on the record sound different, and that’s because I felt different things with them, and the way they are produced – entirely isolated from one another – we could use them in whatever way was best for that song rather than best for the record. There is a sort of cohesive sound there, and that’s because the influences for the record were quite diverse, but there’s an overarching reference back to Talking Heads, Arcade Fire, Björk. Those would be the main influences. I could never stop talking about Arcade Fire, I love them. That ’80s/anthemic pop-rock vibe.”

Simply put, the result speaks for itself: Glorious Heights is a damn fine record. The luddite in me is quite taken by the level of production here – that journey from a handful of chords and scraps of lyrics to fully fleshed song is a story that doesn’t get old – and given my ignorance, I ask Cerro to explain the process as though I were a five-year-old trying to eat my play-dough.

“Ha, well, I think in order to achieve that kind of production you need to be a five-year-old eating play-dough. I think the most important part of achieving originality in a song is to just play and not be afraid to play. Not be afraid to do the weird thing if that works. If it doesn’t you can subtract it, but you’ll be all the better for it if it does.”

Montaigne’sGlorious Heights is out Friday August 5 through Wonderlick/Sony; and you can catch her live atOxford Art Factory on Saturday October 8.

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