THE OTHER SIDE BY GEORGIA VAN ETTEN (FEATURING JOEY LANDRETH)
Australian raised, London based singer-songwriter Georgia van Etten is releasing her new single with Canidian label Birthday Cake. “The Other Side” is a raw and gritty Americana tune with an acoustic feel and moody instrument layers building for a big finish. The single features Birthday Cake co-founder and celebrated musician Joey Landreth on guitar and vocals.
van Etten describes the song’s origins, and how she connected with Landreth and Birthday Cake: “I wrote ‘The Other Side’ in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic and global lockdown. I’d found this little voice memo on my phone from a year or so ago of me singing what is now the melody of the chorus. I loved the vibe and it resonated with my feelings at the time. My partner was going through a rough period and I felt distant from him emotionally and also physically because of the isolation measures in place. I had this want to reach out and grab him, but he felt so far away. I think when you are so closely connected to someone, you feel their pain and you have a longing to take this away from them. ‘The Other Side’ encompasses exactly that; the feeling of sinking down with someone who’s feeling low in an attempt to help them but also in desperation, that surrender to the darkness.
“I first wrote the song on piano, but I knew it needed to be played on guitar- it felt quite dark and dirty and I thought guitar would be a better fit. My partner Edwin and I did a short guitar + vocal voice memo and sent it through to my management who loved it. We all decided it should definitely have someone guest on it- perhaps a guitar solo and even vocals. The incredible Joey Landreth sprung to mind and I hesitantly contacted him to feature on the track. Lucky, lucky me, he said yes. It is amazing to have Joey on ‘The Other Side’, his tone, guitar playing and authenticity mesh perfectly with what I was trying to create. He kindly offered to sing on the track so I wrote verse two after the fact. It was a little harder to write verse two than it was to write my verse. I felt I really needed to get into the headspace of the person going through that rough time and I focussed on the frustration of knowing there’s a way out, but not being able to reach it.”
Originally from Melbourne, Australia, Georgia packed one tiny suitcase six years ago and headed for the U.K. Since then she has solidified her position as an international touring artist, having headlined festivals across the UK, Europe, and Australia. Her debut EP ‘Live at the Pool Studio’ had extensive international and BBC Radio 2 play with Jamie Cullum remarking “this really blew me away when I first heard it”, and Blues & Soul Magazine UK declaring “Put simply, this is a damn fine EP”.