blush wants you to stop overthinking

As Adelaide-based outfit blush, singer-songwriter Anitta Vucic, drummer Liam Dawe, guitarist Jack Paech, and bass player Harry Nathan are crystal clear on their sonic identity in only a handful of releases. Each soft, ambient affairs that sit somewhere between shoegaze, folk and heavier indie rock sounds, they’re anchored by Vucic’s personal songwriting. “I wouldn't say that I'm the best at knowing how I'm feeling all the time. It's mostly in my head, so when I write that's when a lot comes out,” she explained.

But with that vulnerability comes a tendency toward overthinking, tweaking and hand-wringing over releases before they even see the light of day. As a solo artist before the band came together, Vucic admits she spent four years making sure her first single was “just right.” In her work with blush, it was a roadblock she was intentional about avoiding. “For our first song [“Are U Okay”], I was like, fuck it, this is it. We’re gonna release it,” she explained.

The track, that finds Anitta checking in with a friend who’s been struggling, was an apt introduction for a group still perfecting their own creative processes. “I write most of the songs and then send them the demos because they can play the instruments way better than I can and they sort of take over,” Vucic explained, adding that they’re deeply inspired by “female leads with really soft vocals and cool instrumentals” like Wolf Alice, Beabadoobee, Phoebe Bridgers, and Soccer Mommy. “It's been a long year for you / But I can see that you're still there / And that you haven't disappeared,” she sings on the track's hook. On the slow whirling "Doomsday," Vucic ponders if an ex has moved on while grappling with the possibility that she hasn’t. “Cause you walked out my door, with someone who had a little more / do you hink about us still, does it hurt to see I’m doing more,” she sings.

Initially working on their own projects or as members of other bands in Adelaide’s small but deeply interconnected music scene, they'd quickly find their groove doing live shows across the city in 2022. “We're very lucky in that sense that because it's so small, it leaves room for any sort of band to sort of emerge,” she explained. “When we first started playing, we did a set, got an Instagram up and then from there we just sort of started getting asked to play at shows.”

By 2023, the group dropped Casual Affairs, a 3-track collection of demos that found Vucic leaning more heavily into a stripped down, acoustic sound. After blush’s initial releases, she found herself writing more than ever; and saw releasing the project as a way to work through the pressures of trying to chase this elusiveness of perfection. “You go through fucking loops with it, but you're never gonna be happy,” she said. “I was like, you know what, this is either just gonna stay in the archives forever or I can just put it out there. Maybe no one will listen to it, but at least it's out there’.”

While the band has mainly single releases under their belt, an upcoming EP, How to Start a Cult, is slated for release later this year. Set to feature some of their previous releases, the project frames how we navigate everyday life and relationships through devotion to things that aren’t always as they seem. “I wouldn't say it's completely cult-related—it's very much about how emotions, and living, is like a cycle,” she explained. “It’s just in the whole, searching to find something, getting that thing and just being like…now what?”

While Adelaide offers them a home base and steady flow of live shows, Vucic understands the impact of digital platforms like ReverbNation and BandLab in the lead up to the release of their next project. “When we released shades of blue, I was trying to figure out the best way to go about promoting [it], and when I came across BandLab and ReverbNation I was like ‘ this is sick’ and I don't think enough people know about them,’” she said, adding that pairing the resources and tools they provide with their own knowledge of things like putting together an EPK has helped them avoid the pitfalls that often come with juggling careers alongside full-time jobs and full lives outside of music. “Sometimes we’re like, ‘I can totally do this,’ but sometimes you miss the mark on stuff.”

Bigger cities like Melbourne and Sydney offer wider audiences, but platforms like these have helped push their reach to places they didn’t expect. “You reach people that you didn't think that you would. I wouldn’t think we would have listeners in Switzerland or be added to a playlist in another country and get heaps of streams from there,” she said. As important as widening their fanbase might be, Vucic says the band’s main focus is becoming the go-to soundtrack of their listeners’ most intimate and self-reflective moments. “If whatever I'm singing or writing about [is relatable] to someone else, and they’re feeling all of those same emotions,” she said. “That's what I find cool and special about music.”