Miranda vs Arizona

For Meanjin/Brisbane-based songwriter Miranda vs Arizona (nom de plume of Miranda Kelly), the 21st century folk-rock canon is perhaps one of the more important sonic pools of inspiration. Understated aesthetics that heal the wounds of lost devotion is the bottom line.

This proof-is-in-the-pudding denotation is baked into her debut 2022 EP Dancing For Strangers, a thoughtful collection of songs featuring admissive lyrical sensibilities with modest band arrangement highlighting the importance of effectual simplicity. Recorded across Brisbane and Mount Glorious, airy guitar work gives fruitful room for Kelly’s opiate-ballad melodies. Lead single Changin’ skirts around an edge of true-blue tension, earning it a recent nomination for the Folk Award at the Queensland Music Awards.

Miranda vs Arizona’s recent successes have been a long time coming since forming in 2018. Combine an enticing and percussive 5-piece live band with Kelly’s impulse for straight-up songwriting since childhood, you have an act that encompasses the sublime delight of rock n’ roll urge with soft trimmings of delicate emotional connection.

Having supported the likes of Big Scary, Maple Glider and Full Flower Moon Band, Miranda vs Arizona saunters into 2023 with new recording projects and the slow but fiery incubation of an up-and-coming songwriter only developing from strength to strength.