Miiesha’s Nyaaringu is out today and the collection is an angelic, sparkling indie-pop, RnB release. Sonically, it’s absolutely stunning but the collection of songs goes deeper, exploring the themes of cultural identity and community.
Originally from Woorabinda up in Central Queensland, Miiesha has recently moved to Melbourne to seriously pursue music.
In celebration of the new release, Miiesha is taking us through the absolutely stunning piece of work, track by track. And, if audiovisual is more your style, listen to Miiesha discuss ‘Nyaaringu’ in a 4-minute audio track by track, with her hand-drawn interpretations, here below.
Caged Bird
The first voice you hear on Nyaaringu is my Grandmother. And with the person she was and will always be in my life I felt it was important that this collection start with her voice and some of her hard-earned wisdom. I feel this song has a different meaning to everyone who hears it, but most importantly for me it was my Grandmother’s favourite song.
Black Privilege
I had the title of this song in my head before any music or lyrics existed. I just really wanted to capture the way that some people might think they know me, my community or my people without ever having met me. Everyone has their own story, and it is important to know that before you judge or assume things.
Drowning
Drowning was the first time I had heard one of my songs sent back from a producer and I was shocked at where my music could go and what I could sound like. From there I just dug deeper into what I wanted to say and how I wanted to say it.
Broken Tongues
This song is written in three parts: the first being the moment you feel you’re not good enough and that you don’t fit in. The second is telling yourself that your story is important and that you do belong. The third is the spirit of my ancestors in Pitjantjatjara language telling me that they fought for me to be here and have a voice so I need to use it.
Hold Strong
We had started working with IAMMXO who produced the whole collection, and he sent through a few beats to write to and this one instantly stood out. Having moved away from home I was starting to see more of how the media portrayed my people and my community and felt I needed to speak on it. It came together really quickly but there was a lot of last-minute changes to the chorus and other parts on this song. It was Mo, the producer’s idea for the break between the first chorus drop and I loved that. There was a lot of takes of the second verse trying to catch the right vibe and tone in my voice that I wanted. Parts were recorded everywhere from lounge rooms in the city, to a caravan on a farm to a studio as I made little changes along the way.
Tjitji
‘Tjitji’ means child in Pitjantjatjara and I wrote this for my little sister. By the time Nyaaringu is released, she will be 5 years old and I have missed a lot of moments with her while pursuing my music goals. This started as a letter to her and turned into a song.
Twisting Words
My favourite song to perform live, this song is about the way words and the truth can be twisted to mean something different, and how we choose to react to that, do we stand up for the truth or do we stay quiet.
Blood Cells
This is about the need for education, over, incarceration.
Self Care
This song is about knowing where you’ve come from to know where you’re going. Loving and accepting who you are no matter your mistakes and just looking after yourself.
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