Guest Playlist: Perth’s Dulcie share the tracks that inspired their latest single “Dust”

Dust

Late last month Perth indie girl band Dulcie released their latest single “Dust”. We enjoyed the song – a three minute burst of sunshine and positivity to help get you up and going – so much we made it our Track of the Day. 

The song which is full of charm, personality and displays a wonderful pop sensibility is “a song about realising something isn’t what you thought and as time goes on you lose touch of what it was that was good for you in the first place.” If you’ve not heard it yet, what’re you waiting for? And if you have, well why not give it another spin. 

To celebrate the release of “Dust” the band have kindly compiled and shared with us an exclusive playlist of the tracks that influenced the making of their latest single. Press play on that playlist and read on to find out more about the selected tracks from the band themselves. 

Meg Mac “Roll Up Your Sleeves”

Meg Mac is known for her punchy vocal hooks, which are highlighted specifically in this song. I love the way they sit under the melody at the end and incorporated this idea into the outro. She also has a lot of piano based songs which inspired the writing style for “Dust”.

Dua Lipa “Love Again” 

The melodic structure of the verse in this song is so simple and catchy and that’s what I love most about it. The words seem to just roll off the tongue and get stuck in your head from the moment you hear them. I wanted to use the same sort of repetitive phrasing in “Dust”, specifically in the verses as I thought it might allow listeners to connect with the song from the very beginning.

Tom Odell “Can’t Pretend” 

From the moment I heard this song I fell in love, and at 1:52 I fell in love even more. There is a section where all the instruments build into a stripped back heavy piano/drum anthem and I don’t think it will ever get old! I love how strong the song still sounds even though the full band isn’t in. It creates such a different edge within the sound, something you don’t expect but in the best way possible. We used this technique building out of the bridge into the final chorus and I hope it has the same effect!

Odette “Take it to the Heart”

Odette is hands down one of my favourite artists. Her song-writing has always been a big influence on my own. I love the tonality of her voice, the style of her phrasing and pronunciation. The words she uses to describe things is often very poetic and metaphorical and I like to try and do the same when I’m writing. The steady momentum in “Take it to the Heart” was a real take away for me. I was obsessed with how the incorporation of vocal hooks, harmony and percussion drove the song and hope to replicate the same sort of musicality in “Dust”.

Maggie Rogers “Light On” 

I’m a big Maggie Rogers fan and this song in particular is a favourite of mine. I love the strength that shines through in her writing, the lyrics feel so raw and the delivery is always  powerful without being too over bearing or intense. She uses harmony and catchy melodies to engage the listener and this is definitely the vibe we were going for when writing “Dust”.

AURORA “The Seed” 

This song had me hooked from the first time I heard it. I specifically love the pre chorus, a series of building harmonic melodies that lead into a huge chorus. The way they’re sung seems as though she throws away the sound at the end of each phrase. I love the uniqueness of her delivery and found that this made me more excited for when the chorus hit. I tried to incorporate this vocally at the end of the pre chorus of “Dust” to create the same anticipation.

Tame Impala “Is It True” 

The way that the drum part and bass line compliment each other in this track creates some serious groove. This whole album (The Slow Rush) came out just as we were heading into the studio to record “Dust”, so a few of us definitely had Tame on the brain.

Ocean Alley “Corduroy”

As we all sat around brainstorming sounds for “Dust” we remember pulling out this song to chat about some guitar tones. It’s fair to say we all listen to our fair share of OA so it’s no surprise that some of our guitar and drum parts are reminiscent of them.

Red Hot Chili Peppers “Goodbye Angels”

Sas grew up listening to a lot of RHCP so some of the guitar parts she writes and plays are a similar tone and share that vibe. In “Dust” there are a few build ups and riffy little guitar parts that you can see the influence in.

Dua Lipa “Don’t Start Now”

We were absolutely smashing this tune over the summer! We couldn’t help but bring in some groovy bass lines and breakdowns into our writing on “Dust” and the other songs we were writing around that time.

“Dust” is out now. Stream it HERE. Keep up to date with Dulcie via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and via their Official Site.

Upcoming Tour Dates

3rd Oct | Dunsborough Tavern, Dunsborough (w/Great Gable)
31st Oct | Good Day Sunshine Festival, Busselton
28th Nov | Rosemount Hotel, Perth (Headline show – SOLD OUT)

Dulcie will also be supporting Ocean Alley on their in Feb/March 2021:

6th Feb | Hordern Pavilion – Sydney, NSW
7th Feb | Hordern Pavilion – Sydney, NSW
12th Feb | The Fortitude Music Hall – Brisbane, QLD
13th Feb | The Fortitude Music Hall – Brisbane, QLD
5th March | Fremantle Arts Centre – Perth, WA
12th March | Thebarton Theatre – Torrensville, SA
24th March | Melbourne Arena, Melbourne, VIC

Header Image: Zachary Lindley

Simon Clark

Books Editor. An admirer of songs and reader of books. Simon has a PhD in English and Comparative Literature. All errant apostrophes are his own.