• News

• All

Apr 13, 2023 By Caleb Campbell Photography by Benjamin Joel

Melbourne indie singer/songwriter Nat Vazer debuted in 2018 with her EP, We Used To Have Real Conversations, the first introduction to her unvarnished and confessional style of indie rock and guitar pop. She then expanded on that introduction in 2020 with her full-length debut, Is This Offensive And Loud? That record began picking up steam in Australia as Vazer drew comparisons to other vulnerable voices in the indie singer/songwriter field like Phoebe Bridgers or Soccer Mommy.

She has spent the years since relatively quietly before returning last month with another new single, “Addicted to Misery,” the first taste of a forthcoming sophomore record. Now she’s back with her latest track, “Born,” premiering with Under the Radar.

“Born” finds Vazer shifting away from the airy indie pop shimmer of her previous single, instead leaning into the sparse and spectral side of her sound. Guided only by contemplative fingerpicked chords and steady understated percussion, the track puts an unwavering spotlight on Vazer’s vocals and poetic lyricism. Vazer herself is stark and unadorned, but she still seizes on an entrancing magnetic presence, drawing rapt attention with only her striking imagery and meditative confessions. She sings, “And it makes me feel like a stranger / In the city I was born / Looking up at dream liners / Looking down at the last crumbs of love / Born to cry / Born to feel alive / Born into this little life.”

Vazer explains of the track, “‘Born’ is a reminder of the few chances you get to take in your life, and about recognising the temporary state of everything around you.

For me, the song is also a nod to coming to terms with not really fitting in anywhere and feeling ‘like a stranger in the city I was born’. I grew up moving around a lot and living in a broken family with migrant parents, so I’ve never really felt a deep connection to a specific home or a singular culture. I think there are a lot of people in a similar boat who know that feeling of forever grappling with finding your place.”

Check out the song early below, out everywhere tomorrow, April 14th.