“You want to be a superstar? / Take it from me? Nahah,” (Fame Makes You Crazy).
With her debut album Fate So Wrong, Your Girl Pho aka Phoebe Gunson—offers us a series of candid snaps (no filter) into the rollercoaster of fame and the messiness of all the stuff that gets left out of frame. If you’re looking for Australian R&B with a cheeky dash of electro-pop that feels as real as a late-night heart-to-heart with your best mate, you’ve found it here.
Right from the slinking and rattling of opening track, ‘Fate So Wrong’, Pho sets a reflective tone, grappling with the sort of big, existential questions that keep us up at night. Like Cherry Ripe melting in the afternoon heat, Pho’s voice glides over hypnotic beats as she finds only more questions: “Why can’t I be that girl?” As pho explores the delicate balance between pursuing artistic ambition and yearning for meaningful relationships, she moves from a hushed whisper to a soaring belt. While relatively unknown at this end of the earth, there’s an instant draw to Pho’s sound and distinctive vocals, it’s not surprising to read in the blurb that she has opened for artists like Post Malone and The Avalanches, and on the roster of nearly all of Australia’s major music festivals. Your Girl Pho’s rise began in 2019 when she clinched the West Australian Music Award for ‘Best Live Electronic Act,’ a title she retained in 2020. That same year, she dropped tracks Five-Thirty PM and Don’t Wanna, and the high-energy bop Co Star in 2021. Pho now lives on Berlin label Childhood Intelligence (Scanner, The Nightstalker, Dj Fuckoff), not known to take on anything unimaginative.
Throughout Fate So Wrong, Pho carefully mixes lightness with the dark, fun with fragility. Picking a few highlights from the album is tricky, as one of Pho’s strengths is her Sia-like knack of side-stepping and hop-scotching into different styles. The album travels through a few contrasting moods, and it’s easy to find something relatable that will add some colour to a grey day. No matter the mood, though, Pho’s dynamic voice holds it all together. For example ‘Late Again’ and its playful, yet painfully witty take on life slipping through our fingers. “I was late again just yesterday / Quarter past nine and I start work half eight” she sings, effortlessly switching between sassy and reflective. Tracks like ‘Make Ur Bed’ and ‘Colour Me Confused In Pink High Heels’ pair catchy hooks with lyrics that dig a bit deeper than your average pop song. Meanwhile, ‘Too Big Too Bright’ and ‘You don’t got this’ offer space to sit with doubt, raw truths reeling in her words. Elsewhere, ‘Fame Makes You Crazy’ her bold critique of the fame game, is delivered with sharp lyrics and a beat that dares you to sit still. For the genre, it’s a rare and honest takedown of celebrity culture that’s echoed later on radio-ready ‘Dreamz Fade’ , an expose of the bittersweet reality of chasing dreams that always seem just out of reach. The minimal arrangement puts Pho’s voice at its centre, allowing us to appreciate its haunting tenderness.
Your Girl Pho’s candour is refreshing in a scene that celebrates flawlessness and Insta-perfection. While it doesn’t necessarily push any musical or genre boundaries, Fate So Wrong is a confident debut that unfolds into a powerful reminder that modern life (especially for creatives) is messy, unpredictable, and often downright confusing. But it’s also so damn beautiful.
‘Fate So Wrong’ is out 28 August, via Childhood Intelligence.
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