Australian indie rock artist Angie McMahon shares the stories and life lessons behind her ‘Light Sides’ EP – an extension of her universally acclaimed sophomore album, built on poetry, raw emotion, and a deep reverence for music’s ability to heal.
Stream: ‘Light Sides’ – Angie McMahon
I’m so grateful to be releasing music… doing those things makes me feel like I’m a real person with a real job, and not just a pile of emotions.
* * *
Angie McMahon’s music has always felt like a quiet revelation – an intimate conversation between artist and listener, wrapped in raw lyricism and rich, unguarded emotion.
The Australian singer/songwriter (and two-time Atwood Editor’s Pick) earned widespread acclaim with her sophomore album Light, Dark, Light Again, a record that resonated deeply with listeners and critics alike upon its late 2023 release. Praised for her beautifully vulnerable, unflinching songwriting and a cathartic, cinematic indie rock sound, the follow-up to 2019’s debut LP Salt found McMahon embarking on a musical journey of inner reckoning and subsequent redemption, delving into her own darkness only to (eventually) find her way back out again.
A year later, McMahon’s Light Sides EP extends the world of Light, Dark, Light Again while creating its own special space. Five previously unreleased songs, all written in the process of making the album and “born in the same universe,” capture both the early stages of her album’s creation and the lessons she learned after its completion – weaving through themes of transformation, uncertainty, and acceptance.
I didn’t want to stay the same
I didn’t want to hear the change walk in
I didn’t want to hurt you and
It’s always going to start and end
With I didn’t want pain, with I was afraid
I needed rewiring
And breaking this open
meant starting a riot
My least favourite feeling
Is hurting someone
’cause I was slow at healing
– “Untangling,” Angie McMahon
“Light Sides is a collection of songs that live alongside Light, Dark, Light Again,” McMahon shares. “They didn’t fit in the record and I didn’t know if they’d be released, but it feels right to complete the chapter by letting these ones go… I hope these extra pieces give a little extra colour to the story.”
She adds, “It kind of bookends the experience of the record. Some of the writing is from the very early days, before I knew what the album was trying to say, and some of the recording is from after the album was done, after I had learnt how to make studio sessions more free flowing and enjoyable. So it kind of holds the beginnings and endings of some life lessons.”
Released September 2024 via Gracie Music / AWAL, Light Sides is home to some of Angie McMahon’s most powerful and moving music to date.
Songs like “Beginner,” “Just Like North,” and “Untangling” reflect personal and emotional evolution, exploring pain as a path to growth, while “Interstate” unpacks the transition from unattached independence to romantic partnership, and “Take Up Space” employs empathy as a means of understanding outside perspectives.
Atwood recently included “Untangling” in our year-end feature on the Best Songs of 2024, describing it as a masterclass in cinematic vulnerability: “At once intimate and all-consuming, unfiltered and raw throughout, it’s a cathartic confessional that doesn’t so much swoop high, as it does spread out all around us. From the steady, percussive pulse of the drums and bass to a deeply expressive, effected, radiant electric guitar melody, McMahon creates a world into which artist and audience alike dwell in life’s depths.” Carefully, she picks open emotional scars, allowing her listeners into a private therapy session where she candidly acknowledges her own perceived shortcomings and failings – and how she ultimately overcame them in order to persevere through hardship:
I dropped out of my old shape
And the moves that I made up to twist
So I fit some place
Now I lift weights, and I feel safe
I’m not so afraid
I’ve got something I’m proud of
Growing from something that I’m growing out of
It was a joint misadventure
And I am untangling you from my centre
I am untangling you from my centre
– “Untangling,” Angie McMahon
While the EP may be a companion to Light, Dark, Light Again, there’s no denying that Light Sides carries its own weight.
There is a tenderness, a warmth, and a self-awareness to these particular tracks that set them apart in her oeuvre, and yet they are also quintessential Angie McMahon: From end to end, she dwells in the beautiful, gut-wrenching depths that have defined her artistry from day one – striking an emotional chord through songs that ache openly and honestly through moments of transition, growth, heartache, and self-discovery.
In our conversation, Angie McMahon invites us further into her world – one built on poetry, raw emotion, and a deep reverence for music’s ability to heal. Read on below as she discusses the beauty of imperfection, the quiet power of embracing change, and the stories behind these songs – from rock-bottom revelations to the magic of leaving a track unfinished, yet complete.
“I think what I’m taking from this experience at the moment is a combined sense of purpose and gratitude and community,” she says with a smile.
Light Sides is out now.
— —
:: stream/purchase Light Sides here ::
:: connect with Angie McMahon here ::
— —
A CONVERSATION WITH ANGIE MCMAHON
Atwood Magazine: Angie, it’s great to reconnect! How has Light, Dark, Light Again grown with you over the past year?
Angie McMahon: I love it more than I did! Like when you start dating someone and your first memories are mostly private, but once your relationship is sound you introduce them to your friends and family, you all start making memories together, and you get to fall in love with them more while they open up your world. I think this record has expanded for me and kept making sense in new ways.
Do any of its tracks still resonate with you, still? Which songs continue to stand out?
Angie McMahon: My favourites from the beginning were “Fish” and “Making It Through,” and I think that has stayed true, those ones hold a special place.
Here you are now, a year later, with a truly beautiful new EP’s worth of tracks. What’s the story behind Light Sides?
Angie McMahon: Thanks so much! These are kind of the B-sides, the ones that didn’t make it onto the album but were built in the same world. We had the idea to put out a deluxe version of the album, but these five songs felt like they wanted their own spotlight, and I liked the idea of following an album with a little sister EP instead.
I understand this record came together sort of piecemeal, during and after the album’s sessions. For you, what does this EP represent, and what memories does it conjure up when you look back on it?
Angie McMahon: It kind of bookends the experience of the record. Some of the writing is from the very early days, before I knew what the album was trying to say, and some of the recording is from after the album was done, after I had learnt how to make studio sessions more free flowing and enjoyable. So it kind of holds the beginnings and endings of some life lessons.
These five songs felt like they wanted their own spotlight, and I liked the idea of following an album with a little sister EP instead.
I really love the opening lines of “Beginner”: “I had to reach the bottom, begging at the door, praying it would open to who I was before… Felt like I was dying, but I was just being born.” What does this song mean to you, and why open the record with it?
Angie McMahon: This one was written and recorded more recently than the others, after shedding some skin. I have found a lot of peace in this kind of Buddhist idea of rock-bottom, and how total hopelessness can be a point where you start to question everything and finally free yourself from some suffering.
Emma Louise (co-writer) and I were reflecting on this lesson that difficulty is part of the path, and you have to touch the center of your pain to open into the next version of yourself. I loved writing this song with her, and I love the song, it just automatically felt like the right one to open with – I didn’t really have to think about it!
I’d love to unpack the chorus with you: “Some are wild, some are blessed, some are kind, some are restless, some will take to be the winner. I am always a beginner.” Where do you think this mantra came from, and how do you interpret it?
Angie McMahon: We were trying to find an enlightened way to say that some people are assholes, and that doesn’t mean you have to be an asshole. For me it’s an invitation to stay true to my values, no matter how challenged I am by people.
You have to touch the center of your pain to open into the next version of yourself.
A quick note about “Just Like North” – I think the line “You had to be ugly before you were gorgeous” is one of your all-time best. It’s so powerful, and it leaves me with plenty to think about. Are the lyrics on this EP in particular a point of pride, for you?
Angie McMahon: Thanks! Yeah, I think that is a favourite for me, too! I do really love the lyrics on the EP, I was reading more poetry at the time and it’s a good reminder to go back and fuel the brain with good words and art. I feel like an empty well at the moment!
I really, truly believe that “Untangling” might be one of your greatest songs, musically and lyrically; it’s just a vulnerable, cinematic masterpiece. What was the process of writing “Untangling” like for you? Were you still in the thick of it when you put ink to paper, or did you have the benefit of time and distance to feel any bit removed from the situation?
Angie McMahon: I was so in the thick of it, I couldn’t figure out where to take the song or how to finish it – I think that’s why I sat on it. This untangling has felt like a traumatic fog and can be hard to see through. I only finished the song in the studio as we were recording it, in the studio between tour dates, because we had a deadline and I wanted to let it go!
You close the record with the slow-burn “Interstate” and brooding, warbly “Take Up Space.” Do you mind sharing a bit about these last two songs?
Angie McMahon: “Interstate “is the only song of this chapter that is actually about my current partner, so I’m glad it gets to be out, I wrote that when we were falling in love and I felt like I was leaving behind an independent season. After that, some sad things happened that inspired the rest of the songs, so this one was written early and is the only one about that love story!
And “Take Up Space” was inspired by a song prompt from my talented friend Mimi Gilbert, in a songwriting club that we’re part of. The idea was to write from a perspective you usually don’t use, like maybe the point of view of the person who is hurting you. Mimi is such an empathetic person and powerful writer, and I think when you bring empathy into songwriting, you are reminded that we’re all experiencing so much of the same pain and frustration, which is easy to forget.
This is a short EP, but it’s a deeply impactful one. What do you hope listeners take away from Light Sides, and what have you taken away from making it and now putting it out?
Angie McMahon: Maybe it’s not for the writer to say what people take from the work, but I hope the songs become a friend to someone, and some good memories can be made alongside them! It’s been a great exercise in imperfection, because I didn’t have as much time to spend on the tiny details of these ones, which doesn’t really matter – a song is a song and belongs in the world when it’s done.
I have felt so generously held by the people listening to my music and coming to shows this past year, and I’m so grateful to be releasing music as well – doing those things makes me feel like I’m a real person with a real job, and not just a pile of emotions. I think what I’m taking from this experience at the moment is a combined sense of purpose and gratitude and community.
It’s been a great exercise in imperfection, because I didn’t have as much time to spend on the tiny details.
If you were to pull one or two life lessons from the songs you’ve released over the past two years, what would they be?
Angie McMahon: God, there have been so many. Two of them are that there is no avoiding suffering and change, they’re part of the path, and that a self-compassion practice can be totally life-changing – and can also be cool and fun!
In the spirit of paying it forward, who are you listening to these days that you would recommend to our readers?
Angie McMahon: Annie-Rose Maloney’s “Hold Me,” Mimi Gilbert’s “Police Checks,” Hannah McKittrick’s “Utensil,” Hurray for the Riff Raff’s “Buffalo,” Leif Vollebekk’s “Moon Dog,” Charlotte Cornfield’s “In Your Corner,” and Mallrat’s “Wish On An Eyelash.”
— —
:: stream/purchase Light Sides here ::
:: connect with Angie McMahon here ::
— —
— — — —
Connect to Angie McMahon on
Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, Instagram
Discover new music on Atwood Magazine
© Angie McMahon
© Angie McMahon:: Stream Angie McMahon ::
