Singer-songwriter Jade Gibson has released her debut EP, The Great Unknown, after its title single debuted at number 1 on the Australian iTunes country charts. Gibson has a strong pedigree, with her live career starting at the age of fourteen. She has performed in pubs and B&S balls in Victoria (where she lives) and New South Wales, and in gigs as far from home as Western Australia. Both types of audiences can be very demanding – and there would have been more tough audiences in Nashville, where she’s spent time writing and performing. They no doubt helped shape Gibson into the strong performer who appears on this EP.
Given that Gibson has now been in the industry for a few years, it must have been tempting to release recorded music earlier – but the fact she didn’t suggests that she wanted to have as much education and experience as she could, and she was prepared to be patient about it. That sort of attitude often indicates an artist who is focused on giving audiences something of quality: it’s partly about wanting to do the best they can for herself, and partly because they’re paying the audience the compliment of not wasting their time. And Gibson’s work has likely greatly benefited from her willingness to wait, because there is not a single misstep in the five songs that appear on The Great Unknown.
These are country pop/rock songs with music that marries well with Gibson’s very warm, often sweet soprano voice that sounds as if it could suit multiple genres. Of course, the McClymonts have shown that lovely vocals can marry very well with loud guitars and Gibson’s music would appeal to McClymonts fans, and also situates Gibson as a strong emerging artist. She’s currently working on a debut album, and if she picks up the strands of this EP and carries them into the album, that will make for a very strong release.
The Great Unknown is out now.