Little Miss America is the new track for Sydney based alt-folk rock band Josh Orange. Their last release I Will Follow Yougot a lot of attention and this new one will no doubt do the same. They have an accessible sound that is alluring for its amalgamation of folk and rock elements and they certainly know how to write a stirring song. Both I Will Follow You and Little Miss America are taken from the band’s upcoming album Midnight Lights due out in early 2021. Josh Orange, whose members are Gordon Burke (vocals/acoustic/keys), Andrew Wass (guitars/vocals), Blaine Munnings (bass guitar), Alex Miller (drums) and Shane McLaughlin (guitars) has released three albums, Songs for the Journey, Big Day Tomorrow and Eyes Wide Open and has also won wide acclaim including winning the rock category prize in 2015’s The Great American Song Contest. Little Miss America features a poignant lyric that utilises the story telling style to great effect. With the opening line instantly painting a picture, the listener is immediately transported to another world, with the music a kind of cinematic layer holding it all in place. As the band has said about their creative process: ‘People inspire us, everyday people that make us feel like we are part of the gang. Connection is hugely important to us’. Little Miss America features the sound of a live band, there is an exquisite rawness about it, yet the record is peppered with dynamics and a sophisticated edge too. As the band has said about their creative process: ‘There is a formula but it changes with each album, as a band we are always in different places mentally when we work a new album and things are always different, but we tend to find a stride that works for each album and we stick to it. The song writing process for each album also changes and develops but there tends to be a structure for the process each time’. Little Miss America is moving, enticing folk-rock from a band about to hit the next level of your career.
Vince Leigh for THEAUSSIEWORD.COM