Songwriter effe, based between Naarm and Melbourne, has a gift for turning grounded love stories into something with a subtle sense of mysticism – as if emotions exist not in reality, but somewhere at the edge of dreams and memory. Her new single, “Lick The Flame,” is a story of tangled intentions and a painfully unfulfilled romance, where truth and illusion constantly blur and switch places. The track’s sound sits between Y2K pop aesthetics and the soft haze of trip-hop, creating a sense of fragile yet captivating vulnerability.

As effe herself puts it: “‘Lick The Flame’ is about coming to terms with being deceived. I wrote it together with Alex Craig (After), who has an incredible ear for that nostalgic Y2K-era Dido-like sound I love so much – which made him the perfect co-writer for this song.”

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