Reviewed by Ian Phillips.
Stephanie Cherote, Independent 2020.
Stephanie Cherote is a new singer/songwriter who will make her mark on the Australian music scene with this single, the first to be lifted from her debut album which will be released later this year.
As a songwriter Stephanie Cherote has the poetical inclinations and emotional intensity of a female Leonard Cohen, and her breathy vocals have the alluring appeal of a young Stevie Nicks.
The song title, Summer Love, is a bit of a misnomer.
Although the title conjures images and emotions of soft pastel summer’s days, young care-free love and endless bliss, the song is really about an all-encompassing longing for an elusive ideal.
Stephanie Cherote’s Summer Love is steeped in melancholy and about as far away from Sherbet’s Summer Love as you could possibly get.
Stephanie began writing the song in Australia, re-visited it when she was in Costa Rica, and finished the process during a New York winter.
All of these differing locales have shaped the finished product in some way.
As an introduction to a new artist Summer Love is a remarkably sophisticated piece of work.
It therefore comes as no surprise to read that as a 25 year old she wrote and recorded a four-track EP which saw her win the Australian Songwriter Of The Year and Unsigned Artist award, which in turn catapulted her to Los Angeles opening her up to opportunities to work with major record labels.
She didn’t take up the offer because she didn’t feel that she was ‘emotionally’ qualified enough.
Instead she took time to travel, sing her songs at open-mic sessions, and generally experience life.
She even spent time living off-grid and eventually she raised enough money through crowd-funding to record her debut album.
It was recorded at The Grove studio in Sydney with members of the Australian Chamber Orchestra who bring power and emotional intensity to match Stephanie’s outstanding lyrical abilities.
I predict big things for Stephanie Cherote.
Summer Love is a wonderful single and I can’t wait for the album to be released.
