“It explores the inner confusion people face when making a decision, and how these often-conflicting feelings can change over time,” she said.
The song is a moody, stripped back ballad. It features Beth's big vocal soaring over simple keys then blending with her brother's vocal on the bridge. The title line has an ear-worm quality that hangs around long after the song has finished. It's the sound of life from within the four walls of lockdown.
Beth said she recorded Slow Burn in Geelong, while her brother Jonny added vocals recorded in his home studio in East Village, New York, where he works as a medical supplies salesman.
Now 27, and a seasoned performer and songwriter, Beth began playing as a teenager at Notre Dame Secondary College assemblies and at Shepparton’s Lemon Tree Cafe.
She went on to wow audiences at the popular Secret Garden and Winter Sessions gigs with her charismatic stage presence and mesmerising vocals.
In 2018 she moved to Melbourne and quit her marketing job with SPC to concentrate on her music.
“I figured I had to do something I was really passionate about — it seemed the right time to do it,” she said.
She and Jonny built up a busy gig schedule performing cover songs and originals as a duo around Melbourne and Geelong, before he moved to New York.
Her debut single, Meredith City, was released this year, just before COVID-19 hit and closed the door on live performances.
“It was pretty heartbreaking — I'd put in so much effort to make music my career. I had residencies in Geelong and weddings booked for this year,” Beth said.
With influences from Maggie Rogers to Coldplay, Florence and the Machine, Taylor Swift and Vance Joy, Beth struggles to describe her music but settles on indie pop.
She has got more songs in the pipeline and said the past few months had been a mixture of frustration and creativity.
“It's been the perfect time to write and record. In an ideal world I'd just love to write and sing. Even as a six-year-old I loved singing,” she said.
Slow Burn by Beth Caldow featuring Jonny Caldow is available now on streaming services, including Spotify and Apple Music.
For a short film clip of Beth performing her song go to www.shepppews.com.au
A full clip will go live on the morning of Saturday, September 5, on Beth's YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUG69QkPCO7O9ZdMfUEyCzw
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