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There's something instantly captivating about the music of eighteen year old Beth Torrance. She skilfully simmers our most deep and untameable feelings down to their purest form, offering them to the world as songs that are poetic, potent, and true.
Her debut album, let's move to the seaside and never be lonely again, released in 2022, introduced Torrance and her aplomb as a writer and musician, with a string of successes on the Student Radio Network and platforms such as Ambient Light.
Now, Torrance presents her latest offering, the first single and titular track off her upcoming EP, ‘Tiny Flowers.’
“It’s a song that just spills out of you,” says Torrance. "Often when I’m writing songs, I’m thinking consciously about crafting this scene or memory I have in my mind through lyrics, whether those are written on the spot or taken from poetry. But sometimes I reach this point of inspiration where writing ceases to become a conscious process of construction: the ideas appear as images and feelings and the lyrics write themselves. ‘Tiny Flowers’ was one of those songs."
It’s a song that is delicate yet commanding in its rawness. Torrance sows layer upon layer of guitar and sweet vocal harmonies, the result of which is a wall of textured sound that washes around you, holding you in Torrance’s world for the duration of the song.
"I love to experiment with layering in my songs to create a warmth in texture and atmosphere," says Torrance. "Usually I prefer to do all of my demos in my room and then build a studio mix around what I already have, but we knew ‘Tiny Flowers’ would benefit from a re-record, so we referenced the demo to recreate those layers and textures you hear on the track. It was a very positive and productive experience and I love the way you can hear the intimate squeaks of the frets as I change between each muted chord."
The music video for ‘Tiny Flowers’ (directed by Shane Warbrooke) mirrors the organic power Torrance displays in the track. "We shot on Tāmaki Makaurau’s Ponsonby Road and up and down Karangahape Road. We thought the contrast of the nighttime grittiness and neon brightness of Karangahape Road with the softness of the dusk in the park was a cool way to convey the theme of nature in ‘Tiny Flowers’, as well as some of the edgier or darker tones of EP."
Place and physical space holds a lot of importance for Torrance. "During my high school years I lived on the Thames Coast of the Coromandel Peninsula. The title track of the EP was named after the tiny yellow and white flowers that appeared in surrounding fields in spring. The sea was a huge presence in my life; a bay lay at the bottom of my driveway. The landscape of Thames is always appearing in my songs and poems."
In her music, Torrance draws influence from artists such as Elliot Smith and Alex G, as well as being an active part of Aotearoa New Zealand alternative radio station 95bFM.
Now, ‘Tiny Flowers’ opens a new chapter for Torrance. "It feels extremely gratifying to finally be releasing 'Tiny Flowers.' I'm very proud and so excited for all that's to come - a project rooted in the perplexing constancy and beauty of nature in the face of the utter complexity of everything else, and the solace it gives."