On her new single ‘Honesty’, Meanjin-based alt-pop artist GLVES turns emotional turbulence into a drum and bass-fuelled confessional. It’s raw, pulsing, and wildly cathartic. The kind of song that demands to be danced through, not cried over.
Best known for her layered soundscapes and commanding live sets (Dark Mofo, Splendour in the Grass, Blak Day Out), GLVES is gearing up for a standout run at BIGSOUND 2025, and ‘Honesty’ makes it clear she’s not here to play safe. This is her most vulnerable moment yet, wrapped in a blistering arrangement that pulses with urgency and control.
The track opens in shadow: sparse instrumentation, filtered vocals, and a creeping tension that feels almost too intimate. But it doesn’t stay there. When the beat drops, it hits hard with high-speed percussion and atmospheric synths that mimic the spiralling chaos of emotional limbo. It’s the sound of trying to let go while holding on, spun into motion.
GLVES’ distorted, airy, and emotionally on edge voice glides above the rhythm like a confrontation whispered into a crowded room. “At some point, you just have to be honest with them,” she says. And that’s exactly what this track does.
Produced by ARIA-winner Rob Amoruso (Baker Boy), ‘Honesty’ is the latest peek into GLVES’ upcoming debut EP ‘Belonging’, out October 10. Like her previous singles ‘Echo’ and ‘Time’, it explores identity, emotional reclamation, and the push-pull of selfhood in a fragmented world. But ‘Honesty’ is different. It’s confrontational, guttural, and brilliantly ambiguous, both a call-out and a break-up letter, shouted from the middle of the dancefloor.
There’s a third space GLVES occupies, somewhere between vulnerability and velocity, heartache and hype, and ‘Honesty’ sits right in its centre. She’s not asking for sympathy. She’s reclaiming power, one drum loop at a time.
Photo Credit: Jason Starr