Asha Jefferies
On her new album, Desire Is An Angel, Asha Jefferies depicts desire as an essential force in the development of our self-knowledge.
The album, recorded in London with producer Tom Iansek, is a showcase for Jefferies’ sophisticated indie rock and folk-pop songcraft. It’s both more sonically ambitious and more intimately personal than Jefferies’ debut, 2024’s Ego Ride.
Making the album was a transformative process, Jefferies says. “It has taught me how to feel more confident and comfortable within what I desire. I think before, I was quite timid and hesitant to want things.”
Jefferies explores her former tendency to silence desire on the album’s first single, Backwards Baby. A similar effort to stamp out desire shows up in the crescendoing alt-country song Cool Guy.
On the meditative title track, Jefferies draws attention to desire’s spiritual dimension. “Desire is an angel, I can’t turn it off,” she sings. On Lilo & Switch, a song that recalls the punchy and emotive indie rock of Soccer Mommy and Lucy Dacus, Jefferies illustrates how desire goes to the core of our being. “I wanna listen,” she sings. “Wanna reach some wisdom.”
At the centre of Desire Is An Angel is Jefferies’ voice. Every line is delivered with emotive intent, with Jefferies occasionally attenuating vocal phrases or shifting into a conversational tone to better evoke the complex feelings being explored. The album is by turns raw, sympathetic, elated and erotic.
In recognition of her rising career, Asha has earned accolades, including a Queensland Music Award and has been a finalist in both the Vanda & Young Songwriting Competition and the International Songwriting Competition (ISC). Her releases have received praise from major UK and US outlets like Flood Magazine, Line of Best Fit, and Atwood Magazine, alongside local praise from Pilerats, The Music, and Rolling Stone, airplay on KCRW and KEXP and a performance for triple j Like A Version. She has previously toured with artists like Soccer Mommy, Julia Jacklin, Courtney Barnett, Bess Atwell, Lord Huron, Lucy Dacus, Middle Kids, Margaret Glaspy and more.