CHRYSALIS

Queensland’s Tia Gostelow may have been born in 1999, but she clearly looks back to the 1980s for her musical references. Indeed, the fact that *CHRYSALIS*, her second album, begins with the sound of a tape deck rewinding is a clear indication of where her heart truly belongs. And with that time being so far in the past, Gostelow can cherry-pick the best elements of what made that decade great—big sing-along choruses, layers of fizzing synths, and cavernous drums. *CHRYSALIS* displays a maturity and assuredness that belies Gostelow’s youth, and that precociousness has seen her pick up multiple nominations at both the Queensland Music Awards and the National Indigenous Music Awards. Her sound is addictive electro-pop by way of Taylor Swift (Gostelow has even said that attending a Taylor Swift show inspired her to play music), which makes her music reminiscent of the chillwave of the early 2010s, or perhaps a sweeter take on CHVRCHES. Sydney indie band Holy Holy crops up on album highlight “ALWAYS,” which is little surprise given that the band’s guitarist Oscar Dawson is on production duties, reprising his role from Gostelow’s 2018 debut *Thick Skin*. Dawson adds a quality which, when paired with Gostelow’s knack for melody, means *CHRYSALIS* is tailor-made to fill stadiums.