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Photo – April Josie Photography

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‘BOY IN A BAND’
Out Now

THE DAY YOU LEFT EP 
Out Nov 24

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Following lead single ‘Say You Love Me’, produced by Japanese Wallpaper & Ben Field, which found fans at triple j, triple j Unearthed, Music Feeds, The Music, AFX Radio London, community radio and more, with full rotation at JOYFM, critically acclaimed award-winning artist Rachel Maria Cox (they/them) shares the searing ‘Boy In A Band’, a more raucous, brazen cut from their forthcoming EP The Day You Left, out independently on November 24 with the support of the American Express Music Backer’s Grant. Cox is set to perform this weekend at DIVERGE Fest alongside Djanaba, Lucy Cliché and more.

In a sonic hark-back to their alternative/emo/indie origins, the new music shreds through sexism and transphobia at the hands of men in the industry, a roaring, up-tempo moment that holds a mirror up to these behaviours as well as holding tight to its own sense of humour, with anthemic, blistering guitar from Cry Club’s Jonathan Tooke.

Rachel Maria Cox says of the track: “This song was intended to be a playful and fun comment on the toxic masculinity that persists within the music industry. I’ve never really shied away from talking about gender issues in the music world, but oddly enough had never really written a song about it until I wrote [this]… [it’s] a twist on the way we talk about women in music as ‘girls in bands’. The verses just drew on a bunch of guys I’ve encountered over the years, including the one who gives unsolicited advice (aka criticism) post-gig and the one who thinks ‘political correctness has gone too far’ but will begrudgingly put a single female acoustic act on as the opener”. 

While ‘Say You Love Me’ set up the narrative of Cox’s forthcoming EP, “about this relationship that’s doomed to fail, because even in this song where everything is bright and optimistic, there’s still this element of hesitance to commit”; in ‘Boy In A Band’ the EP’s hero realises “they don’t deserve to be treated like crap in their professional world”. 

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The new music, their first since 2019, dives even deeper into the pop sensibilities that were last hinted at in that year’s ‘Prosecco’, which drew fans from the likes of triple j, Purple Sneakers, rage, community radio around the continent (peaking at #9 on AMRAP’s Metro Charts) and many more.

The Day You Left spans all of the undeniable, keep-you-up-at-night emotional rollercoaster moments of such a relationship: from the pulsating, persistent synth bass interspersed with shorter bars & pauses between sections in ‘Intense’, meant to mimic the feeling of being caught up in spiraling thoughts & having to catch your breath, to the 6/8 pop royalty-worthy balladry of ‘Heal’, an ode to recovering and refinding your confidence post-breakup.

While recent years have been quiet on the live show front for obvious reasons, RMC has a stellar live reputation, having supported Ruby Fields, La Dispute, Alex Lahey, Ali Barter, Jeff Rosenstock, The Hard Aches, Georgia Maq and appeared at BIGSOUND (where they were crowned a highlight by The Line of Best Fit), Groovin The Moo, Heaps Gay and Queer and Now. RMC was also crowned winner of triple j Unearthed’s NIDA video competition with ‘Stronger Lines’ (2017), was shortlisted for the 2016 Vanda & Young songwriting prize and nominated for the 2017 National Live Music Awards’ Live Pop Act Of The Year, as well as being named as one of Pilerats’ 2019 artists to watch. Further support has poured in for Cox’s vivacious, emotionally vulnerable music from The Guardian, Junkee, Rolling Stone Australia and beyond.

As one of NSW’s most sought after pop DJs, RMC’s sets often include the likes of Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande and Charli XCX. Those dizzying, hooky moments found their way into RMC’s songwriting, and The Day You Left is proof, with the pop-rock sound that Cox has been cultivating since singles ‘Time’ (2018) and ‘Prosecco’ on full display. These new songs – which follow their 2017 debut album Untidy Lines (crowned The Brag’s Album of the Week), as well as their first EP I Just Have A Lot Of Feelings (2016) – fuse pure pop with a plucky underground spirit, finding a way to dance through an emotional journey with irresistible choruses, whip-smart wordplay and (sometimes brutally) honest lyrics.

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Follow RACHEL MARIA COX
Website – Instagram – Facebook – Spotify

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Photo – April Josie Photography

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AMNPLIFY – DB