Barely a year separatesRosieandMonsters, the respective first and second EPs by Melbourne-via-Brisbane performer Thelma Plum. The directional shift between the two, however, comes with such a confident swiftness that they practically sound as though they were released by different artists. While the former sways gently and relies heavily on acoustic instrumentation, the latter incorporates deep, electronic beats and a striking confidence. Both are excellent, and belie the years of experience under the belt of the artist herself.
“I was very young when I wrote my first EP,” says Plum. “I’m still very young now, but of course I was a lot younger when I was making Rosie. I guess I’ve always wanted to make music that’s a little bit bigger – more than just an acoustic guitar. I’ve never really known how to do that, so I guess after playing music and being around more people that do know how, it felt like a natural thing.”
Even though the release of Monsters is still fresh in the collective conscience, Plum has been working towards her next release – the all-important debut album, which will hopefully be released sometime in the second quarter of 2015, if all goes to plan. “I’m making sure that I’m writing every day,” she says. “How I find it depends on the day, really. I think it’s quite an easy thing to sit down and make myself write, but it’s not an easy thing to constantly be coming up with something good every time that you do. It’s like anything, I guess – if I were a sportsperson, I’d be practising every day. I might write anywhere between seven to ten songs a week. Maybe only half of one of them will be any good, but it all counts towards something.”
On the subject of writing words, it’s duly noted that Plum is incredibly open with hers. Whether she’s singing about her beloved family dog or some bastard heartbreaker, there’s no denying the conviction and the open-book honesty that comes with her music.
“I absolutely think honesty is the best policy,” she affirms. “It’s the best way that I’ve found to write songs. When I write, I feel I’m at my best when I’m full of emotion – and that can be any kind of emotion, really. As long as I’m feeling strongly about something. I suppose songwriting is a very personal, a very selfish thing, but being honest is my best way of writing. I’m a total over-sharer, anyway!”
That would explain the loud, joyful “Fuck you!” that emanates from what’s become Plum’s signature song, ‘Around Here’. “Yes, absolutely!” she laughs. “When I wrote that song, it was a massive ‘fuck you’ to an ex-boyfriend – and it just hit me that there was no better way of getting that across than by literally saying ‘fuck you’.”
Plum and her band are currently in the middle of an extensive national tour to support Monsters before heading to Falls to wrap up the year. The tour is taking in nearly every state and territory, marking the biggest undertaking of shows Plum has done to date, and it’s something that has gotten her excited. “Very, very excited,” she emphasises. “It’s been a really fun tour. I love my band, and the support acts [Left. and Dalli] are really good friends of mine, as well. I haven’t really toured these songs from Monsters as much just yet, and my band have put in a lot of work to really replicate the sound of it live.”
Thelma Plum is playing The Falls Music & Arts Festival alongsideAlt-J, SBTRKT, Julian Casablancas+The Voidz, Run The Jewels, Cold War Kids, Vance Joy and many more atLorne, Marion Bay and Byron Bay fromSunday December 28 to Saturday January 3.Monsters out now through Footstomp/Warner.
