Reviewed by Ian Phillips.
By Alison Wonderland, EMI Australia 2022.
Alison Wonderland is the performance name for Australian DJ, producer, and singer/songwriter Alexandra Margo Sholler.
She has released three albums so far, Run in 2015 which reached number six in the Australian Charts and number one on the US Dance Chart; Awake in 2018 which also topped the US Dance Chart as well as peaking at seven in the local charts; and her latest release Loner, which was released in May this year.
Loner has already climbed to number nine in the local charts and has peaked at number three in the US Dance Chart.
Alison Wonderland is the most successful female DJ performer from our shores and she’s also the highest billed female DJ in Coachella festival history.
DJing, Dub, and Dance music are not usually my thing, but I am making an exception for Alison Wonderland.
The studio and its possibilities are her domain.
It’s part and parcel of the nature of her music and she has all the requisite skills to explore the endless opportunities it offers.
Wonderland started out as a classical cellist, and she performed with the Sydney Youth Orchestra.
She has also been a bass player with a number of indie bands, but everything changed when she heard Silent Shout by The Knife while at a club one night.
Her change in musical direction brought her immediate success as she became a go-to remix artist, but it was her 2013 debut single, Get Ready, which brought her to the attention of EMI.
Loner is an impressive album.
It’s also her most personal release to date.
In it she has turned the pain of experiences that she’s still not prepared to talk about into something positive.
She’s rejected being the victim and taken back control of her life.
Her musical palate is dark and sometimes almost industrial but it’s not uninviting.
I love the deep synth rumble that frequents the album.
Although there is angst in the subject matter, we feel privileged to engage with her.
Bad Things is one of the best songs I’ve heard in a long time.
Her honesty is liberating.
Alison Wonderland considers Loner to be her best album so far and I have to agree.
Loner is not an album of easy listening music.
It requires involvement but it offers lots of rewards for those who are prepared to commit.
