Maple Glider is the moniker of Naarm/Melbourne-based songwriter Tori Ziestch who today announces her signing to Partisan Records. It’s a signal of intent with hopefully much to come, but for now we have the single “Good Thing” – and it gives us more than enough to chew on. Explaining the inspiration, Maple Glider says:
“I wrote this song out of a place of defeat. I was really heartbroken at this point, and very confused. I like the feeling of my independence and I think I was afraid of putting energy into the wrong people. Sometimes we make decisions out of fear and sometimes it’s because we know that it is the best decision to make. Those lines can get very blurry.”
“There are no words I have to say in this moment,” she opens plaintively, immediately placing us alongside her in a moment of complete dejection. What starts as breathy vocals over delicate acoustic gradually builds alongside Maple Glider’s growing feelings – a potent mixture of love, pain, anger, fear – all culminating into anticipation of the incoming loss; “I fear it might be the last time you see me this way.” Double tracking her voice and adding a subtle synth melody pulls us in closer, as if we’re getting inside her true feelings. Once there, she opens up her voice to unfurl its classic-sounding richness, ripe for confessional indie-folk, and she knows exactly how to implement it, building through a powerful storm of words to reach the knockout blow: “I’d rather kill a good thing than wait for it to die.”
Watch the video for “Good Thing”, directed by friend and collaborator Bridgette Winten, below.
Maple Glider’s “Good Thing” is out now via Partisan. With more to come soon, make sure to follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
