Tori Forsyth – ‘You and Me’.
While an inconceivable number of listeners might be streaming the likes of Waxahatchee’s Right Back To It or Lucinda Williams’ Fruits of My Labor on Spotify right now, there are literally dozens of other alt country artists worthy of your time. Tori Forsyth is among Australian alt country’s most promising singer songwriters. Two years ago she was nominated for Best Country Album at the 2024 ARIA Awards for her album ALL We Have Is Who We Are. I’ve long marked Forsyth as a musician to watch ever since I first heard Broke Machine from her debut album Dawn of the Dark in 2018. Some ten years have passed since she first arrived and its easy to hear how driven she is by her impassioned sense of purpose. Last month she gave us the stripped back piano-led ballad I’m Not God which delves into the complexities of identity and self-acceptance. “How do you like me now?/ I’m cold and I’m hot,” Forsyth laments. “I’m everything you need and everything you’re not”. On her latest offering You and Me, Forsyth throw a seemingly optimistic song title our way. It’s a departure from the themes of vulnerability, self-reflection and defiance she usually write. You and Me is also apparently the first love song Forsyth has ever consciously written. “It’s about wanting to escape everything,” Forsyth recently explained, “and just exist with someone you love.” It’s fair to say Taylor Swift has cemented her reputation over the years writing love songs just like You and Me. That said, Forsyth has written an admirable little gem. She really paints a fine portrait of all the little things you notice about inexplicable nature of love.
Bryde – ‘Spectator’.
Sarah Howell aka Bryde last month described her new song Spectator (well not quite new but her latest) as the missing piece of her debut album Like An Island (2018). I’ll explain in a moment. As a title, Like An Island to me evokes emotional resilence. As a cohesive project, it more than delivers. In short Bryde just knows how to toe the line between vulnerability and strength. So anyway, the reverb-soaked Spectator didn’t make the cut back in 2018 because of budget constraints. Moreover, Bryde alludes “it was also perhaps a bit messier and rawer than some of the other songs (on Like An Island) so it felt right to not include it.” I’ve been listening to Spectator for weeks now. I really like its DIY attitude, especially its reverb-soaked feel and how basic the setup of guitars, drums and raw vocals all work. Letting go of her own self-judgement, I’m thrilled Bryde has released this across the ether. I can understand why Bryde might have chosen to exclude this track from her 2018 highly introspective album, but its guitar-driven, inward-focused feel with themes touching on self-reflection and the idea of acting as an observer (to me) tick all the right boxes as an early Bryde-era track.
Charlotte Sands – ‘Back To You’.
If LA-based alt-pop musician Charlotte Sands proves anything, it’s that having an electric blue shade is the most fun you can have with your hair. But seriously behind this bold visual aesthetic lies a fiercely independent artist whose genre-blurring sound has captured the hearts and minds of listeners worldwide. She has charted in the U.S Top 40, won Best Breakthrough Album, toured extensively and amassed over 300 million streams in recent years with her high-energy, confessional anthems. Her latest album Satellite (my introduction to Sands) can be experienced as a ripping alt-pop record which balances both her brooding intensity and intimacy. Satellite apparent captures two years of “the highs and lows, the joy and the grief” of the aspiring musician. The song on my radar this week by Sands is Back To You. You don’t need to hear it in the way I hear it, but I feel like Sands is channeling Gwen Stefani No Doubt vibes here. Sands’ introspective track explores the embarrassing cycle of excuses we make when we are totally infatuated with someone who isn’t good for us. In the pre-chorus she sings “I wish that I was someone I could lean on /I’m cheating on myself, respect /It’s treason.” Sands’ honestly becomes all the more impressive as she admits, “Now I know it’s all for nothing / Thought we could be something / I was wrong / I’m living in a loop / Running circles back to you.”
Rearview Mirror 
Hi Robert,
Among the three singers, my ears go to Bryde first. I like this kind of staggering guitar sharpened for abrade lyrics.