Recommended Tracks: “We Don’t Talk,” “Hey,” “Be the Player, Not the Poet”
Artists You May Like: Leith Ross, Julia Jacklin, Rachel Bobbitt
Throughout Phoebe Go‘s Player EP, each lyric seems to hit harder than the last. Phoebe Go is the solo project of Australian alt-pop artist Phoebe Lou, who previously fronted Snakadaktal, then Two People. Over the summer, she released 3 singles to promote her debut EP: “We Don’t Talk,” “The Kid,” and “Hey.” Lou is an incredibly talented songwriter, and it’s obvious each of the 5 tracks on the Player EP came straight from the heart.
Phoebe Go’s debut single, “We Don’t Talk,” is the 1st track on the EP. Lou opens with the lyrics, “I’ve been seeing / Somebody about it in my sleep / We don’t talk, we just walk / And it’s been helping me.” There is comfort in silence. Throughout the track, the songwriter tries to deal with the noise, the thoughts that may get too loud from time to time. She examines her insecurities, watching herself from across the room. During the chorus, she sings, “Saw my picture in a frame / Hanging up in the hallway … Saw my picture up in flames / Still hanging in the hallway.” In this moment, she seems to confidently accept her whole self, be it flawed, for what it is. With this confidence, she endures.
“We Don’t Talk” is followed by “The Kid,” an earnest exploration of hope and fear. Lou sings, “I’ve got a handful of hope / But the voice in my head / Is still tying me up / With every word unsaid.” She wages a war with her inhibitions, singing, “I want to hand it to you / But my lace caught on the fence / Was it more than / Just a loose end?” Though she may lose this battle, she is determined to hold on to her hope. The 3rd track on the Player EP is even more vulnerable than the 2nd. Lou wrote “Hey” after a family tragedy, ultimately finding comfort in the song. She explains, “Life aches, and we’ve got to learn how to live with that. I think, in that way, (the song is) hinting at hope, that maybe there’s life inside loss.”
The EP’s title is derived from its 4th track, “Be the Player, Not the Poet.” Throughout the song, Lou recounts a discussion during which she is told, “Remove your head from it / Try being the player, not the poet.” Easier said than done, especially if you’re an artist. In an interview with Atwood Magazine, Lou said, “(This song is) about me understanding my relationship with songwriting on my own terms. It’s about letting go of expectations and getting on with doing what I love.” On the EP’s 5th and final track, “Birthday,” the songwriter declares, “I don’t wanna carry on and I don’t wanna play the part / I don’t wanna start to feel like there’s something I forgot / I don’t wanna retrace my steps until I find my heart.” Feeling is her livelihood.
Listen to the Player EP
