The debut album of this Sydneysider is a story of two home studios and
more than a decade of diversions. Fortunately, the album, Ghost Notes,
is an exceptional set of adult singer-songwriting that gleefully jumps
genres, embracing lush power ballads, gritty rockers, ambient studio pieces
and thoughtful acoustic noodling. "It's a fairly big mixture of styles," Maynard
understates. The album's so strong, in fact, you have to wonder why she
avoided the solo option for so long. In her early 30s, Maynard has been
quietly leaving her mark on the Sydney music scene for over a decade. She
first hitched her star to almost-made-its Bughouse from 1988 to 1995. She
then joined the well-thought-of Stella One Eleven in 1998. She now lives
in harmony with Cindy Ryan, that band's key singer-songwriter, in the house
where much of Ghost Notes was recorded (part one of the record was
pieced together in another inner-Sydney house). "When I'm not in emotional
turmoil it's a tough place to write," Maynard figures. "It's
crap being happy and trying to write songs." |
