After developing the spare, sharply observant guitar songs of her debut EP into the brighter, fully arranged indie pop that populated her first album (2019's
Beware of the Dogs), Australian singer/songwriter
Stella Donnelly adjusted her approach somewhat for her sophomore LP. Firstly, while separated from family due to border closings during the early part of the COVID-19 pandemic, she found escape in birdwatching in the rain forests of Bellingen before moving around Western Australia and Melbourne in search of workable housing. These experiences and changes in surroundings influenced songs that she worked up with her band. Secondly, her bandmates swapped instruments during sessions, with
Donnelly herself working primarily from the less-familiar piano instead of guitar. Culling 11 songs from over 40 written during this period, the resulting
Flood ultimately settles into a more vulnerable, less polished, if still playful sound. Meanwhile, themes come together around unideal relationships. "Lungs," for instance, focuses on a child whose family has just been evicted. Skittering drums and a funky bassline start things off before electric piano and organ join in the bouncy opening number, whose tuneful chorus and syncopated verses hold lyrics like "Stretching out the leather on your wallet/That my lungs are filling up/Long live the asbestos on the rental." The next track, the breakup-themed "How Was Your Day?," finds
Donnelly ranting in spoken-word verses over a breezy guitar pop that locks into lilting, carefree choruses. Not all of the songs are so full of musical and lyrical contrast: melancholy piano ballad "Underwater" is full of hurt and compassion, "Flood" has livelier accompaniment including group backing vocals but a still poignant disposition, and "Morning Silence," with its Brazilian-styled acoustic guitar and languid fluegelhorn, is a tender ballad that rues sexual violence through a generational lens. What is constant here is the sweet melodic tendencies that also marked
Beware of the Dogs, and there's no masking
Donnelly's bright, articulate vocal tone, which is nonetheless capable of candid self-examination and the declaration "You are not big enough for my love" to end the album's lush, soaring closer ("Cold").
Flood was co-produced by
Donnelly with
Anna Laverty and
Methyl Ethyl's
Jake Webb, who encouraged spontaneity in the studio, but it's
Donnelly's strong songwriting voice -- both in terms of core music and lyrics -- that dominates here and is likely to re-engage fans. ~ Marcy Donelson
