by Shea Roney (@uglyhug_records)
Blotted and vibrant are the bruises that we acquire in the midst of growing up, to which people either ignore or point them out until they become a productive form of healing. In the midst of those challenges is nineteen year old Perth, Western Australia singer/songwriter Mia June and her debut EP, Don’t Forget Your Bags. Fresh out on Father/Daughter Records, June has dabbled with releasing demos and singles since 2022, but we now find her with a collection of songs that feel both excitingly fresh and exhilaratingly spirited. In reference to emotional baggage, Mia June’s Don’t Forget Your Bags documents the purity of youth in combat with relational turmoil, lost friendships, unreachable yearning and ridiculous expectations in the midst of powerful and heartfelt indie rock songs.
Without skipping a beat, the track “Melbourne” kicks off the EP with a distorted face and fearless voice. “My childhood moves to Melbourne, joins a cult and lives out in the bush / I’m sane enough to put things off, I’m waiting for that pity push,” June sings with doubt towards visible change and credit to cults for their structure. “Freckled Friend Forever” is yearning for romance with someone who will always just be a friend. With its ticking clock backbeat, June creates this anxiety around time, yet there is a very soft and defeating pace to the track. “I had planned to show you how I felt / But you went home, cause you were tired,” June sings disheartedly.
With unlimited lines that sting with both relatability and valor, tracks like “The Wheel” and “Cooking Oil” find June caught up in frustration and exhaustion. Brought to her wits end, June leans into self preservation when her boundaries, trust, and sense of self have been abused. “Dead,” the wavering six minute track, begins with a somber acoustic sway. As the echoing snare hits enter, adding depth to the emotional distance the track covers, June can’t help but to reflect on a relationship that was lost. As the EP reaches its climax, June belts, “I think of you now as if you’re dead / but why can’t I just put the dead to rest,” with heavy handed grief.
With a clear cut conclusion to the EP, “Slate is Clean” stands in for transition; an ugly cluster of doubt and hope that becomes interchangeable in weight. “Why can’t we just be sixteen” is as much a plea as it is representative of a vital stage of growing up. Although gripping, at its core, Don’t Forget Your Bags is a release from momentary turbulence by someone who is living through it. As an impressive new voice dedicated to stamina and sincerity, Mia June will carry her bags as far as she needs to until they begin to feel a little lighter.