Adolescence has a peculiar way of making every emotion feel permanent. A friendship ending can resemble a small apocalypse, an unanswered message can consume an entire afternoon, and one unexpected photograph can reopen a relationship you thought had already been packed away. And on her latest EP ‘laundry list’, sixteen-year-old singer-songwriter Siena Fantini captures those moments before time has softened them, turning the turbulence of growing up into four sharply observed pieces of guitar-led pop.
The EP’s title is deceptively casual. A laundry list is ordinarily a collection of tasks, complaints or unresolved details, but in her hands it becomes an inventory of the feelings accumulated across her teenage years. Jealousy, affection, embarrassment and disappointment remain tangled together, much as they do in real life.
Her ability to take these highly specific situations and turn them into accessible pop narratives recalls the diaristic clarity associated with Taylor Swift, Gracie Abrams and Lizzy McAlpine. Yet her voice is still developing on its own terms. She writes from within adolescence, giving her songs an immediacy that cannot easily be imitated.
Producer and bassist Sean Hurley appears to understand the value of leaving those details intact. The arrangements surrounding her work provide polish and movement without removing the sense that these songs began as private thoughts. Guitar, piano and contemporary pop production frame her voice while allowing the lyrics to remain the emotional centre.
There is considerable promise in an artist who already appreciates that a striking lyric often begins with the detail most people would be tempted to remove. Siena’s world may drift towards embarrassing moments replayed endlessly in the mind, but together, those fragments form something recognisable and emotionally coherent.
With this new collection, Siena Fantini transforms the unruly business of growing up into bright, melodic pop without bleaching away its awkwardness. It’s intimate, self-aware and full of youthful momentum; the work of a songwriter learning that even the smallest moments can become significant once they are given the right melody.