There’s something really lovely about Amaya Laucirica’s debut – a feeling of intimacy smooshed up against what I can only peg as a profound sense of sparseness. The sparseness part at least is no wonder – until she was 18, Amaya lived in Millicent (gateway to… Mt. Gambier). After moving to Melbourne, she began to write songs as a way of combating her loneliness at living in the big bustlin’ city.

 

This isolation is a theme in Sugar Lights, with the twangy opener ‘You’ve Got a Smile’ like some sort of ghost town love song, and quiet tales of difficult decisions and letting go filling out much of what follows on the album. The titular ‘Sugar Lights’ oozes a Darklands-era Jesus and Mary Chain instant catchiness, and airy closer ‘If We Kept Driving’ plays out almost like a stripped back Irish ditty (this is a good thing). ‘Lost and Found’ is also a highlight, with Amaya’s clear voice cutting beautifully across the subdued arrangement, which shuffles and plucks away, quietly insistent. It all hits at just the right level.