Dark Americana and southern gothic singer-songwriter Lisa De Angelis releases her new single and music video, “My Sisters Blue Suitcase.” The Brisbane-based artist wrote and co-produced the single from her perspective of acknowledging life’s obstacles and becoming a stronger, new version of herself despite those past challenges. Hailing from Australia, Lisa is a rising country-folk artist that showcases her smoky vocals and vulnerable side through her lyrical storytelling.
The hard-hitting singer is well-known as the firecracker with a penchant for the spooky and an ear for a melody, and continues to impress audiences with her Americana sound and style. Lisa says, “This song, on a micro level, is about coming from a broken family and struggling with that as an adult trying to build relationships, but also about that streak of anxiety and depressive disorders that runs through the women on my mother’s side, and how none of us quite managed to escape it.”
Lisa reflected on her personal struggles and poured her heart into songwriting based on those experiences. “I was fiddling around with some guitar chords in my bedroom, sang the opening line as a placeholder for the melody, and the whole song just came pouring out in one sitting. I had no idea it was in there or wanted to come out. It was the middle of the night when it was finished, and I just put my head in my hands and cried,” says Lisa.
Through Lisa’s self-struggles, she acknowledges the fight, she embarked on and found “My Sister’s Blue Suitcase” to help her process of healing and growth. “I have quite severe OCD and was only diagnosed about 6 years ago. It was like the heavens opened up because suddenly there was an explanation for the cloud of depression and anxiety that had hung over so much of my life. Looking back now with a diagnosis, I can see how much of our lives have been shaped by something none of us knew we were fighting, and I wonder how far back that goes. ‘My Sister’s Blue Suitcase’ helped me heal, and I hope it can heal some other folks too.”
Lisa wrote her raw and real-life inspirational song through a collaborative process with her partner Paul Bain, who is the drummer for Travis Collins and Kristy Lee Akers, at their private studio in Brisbane. “It was a super collaborative, DIY process. I wrote the song, Paul played drums on it, engineered and mixed it, and we produced it together. The result is exactly what we’d hoped for. Cinematic, sweeping Dark Americana and Southern Gothic music with banjo and horns.”
Throughout Lisa’s career, she has toured with and opened shows for some of Australia’s best, including Steve Kilbey of The Church, Grinspoon frontman Phil Jamieson, blues guitarist Nathan Cavaleri, and Golden Guitar winner Catherine Britt. Lisa has also been the opening act and backing vocalist for ARIA Award nominee Amber Lawrence, while also being mentored by ARIA Award-winner Fanny Lumsden, who she paired with after being selected for the Australian Independent Record Label Association’s ‘Women In Music Mentorship Program.’ As an artist, Lisa continues to make a name for herself as one of Australia’s most captivating dark Americana artists.
