While the Melbourne music scene is equipped of a broad range of talents, it’s not necessarily rife with variety. Indie gigs in intimate settings are often defined by alt-rock sounds, heavy electric guitar and an unmistakable feeling that you are engaging in at least some degree of collective performativity. 

A fascinating counterculture has begun to take shape, however, in the form of Australia’s own indie-pop sensations making music designed for dancing. One of the voices at the centre of this movement is Holly Hebe, a 23-year-old musician from the Mornington Peninsula, who just closed her AUS/NZ Mood Ring tour at the Espy Gershwin last Saturday afternoon.

I first saw Hebe when she opened for her peer, Aleksiah, earlier this year. I was thoroughly impressed by her charisma and infectious synth-forward melodies. Combining relentlessly human lyrics with a unique attention to melody and musicality, Hebe finished the Mood Ring tour with a resolute reminder that she is a force to be reckoned with in the local music scene. 

Hebe is especially notable due to her involvement in the production of her music. Not only is the artist a singer/songwriter, but a producer heavily involved in the mastering of all her tracks. The sonic intro to the show was a soundscape Hebe crafted especially for the Mood Ring tour; an atmospheric immersion into the world of her latest EP that perfectly overtured the next hour.

Having now been active for six years, Hebe had quite the catalogue of fan-favourite tracks to score her afternoon. Performing sixteen numbers that spanned from her earliest releases through to her latest songs from Mood Ring, the singer definitively proved why her rise is continuing its upward trajectory. Kicking off with title track “Mood Ring”, Hebe enveloped attendees in the introspective world of her music, accompanying despairing lyrics “I am doomed to search for meaning in all that you do” with plucky, aerated melodies. The interplay between the melancholy of Hebe’s lyricism and her bright electronic sound is a key component of what makes her a strong artist, and the live arrangements of her tracks only worked to emphasize this sentiment. While the studio versions are impressive, all of Hebe’s instrumentations sounded fuller, more vibrant, and gleefully harmonious in person.

Perhaps the most striking aspect of Hebe’s tour stop in Melbourne was the seemingly endless crowd of superfans that accompanied her every word. In terms of metrics, Hebe is still a relatively small artist, but the behaviour of Hebe’s concertgoers was not entirely dissimilar from what one would expect from that of a major international popstar. In line with global artists like Olivia Rodrigo and Gracie Abrams, Hebe had an almost constant stream of special chants and moments of connection between her and her fans. Their persistent dialogue was incredibly endearing and quite infectious. Hebe and her audience entirely rejected Melburian music performativity, unafraid to demonstrate just how much they were feeling the music. 

By the time Hebe reached “Nineteen”, a fan favourite track from Mood Ring landing in the middle of the setlist, her onlookers were ablaze. I attended this gig as an adjacent enjoyer of the singer’s music, but her confident and endlessly relatable performance of this track left me a lifelong fan. The song features some of the most confronting heartbreak lyrics in a pop track that I’ve heard in some time, as Hebe takes her listeners on a journey through the downfall of a recent long-term relationship. As the singer performed the number, its lyrics surrounding her path to self-healing and regaining confidence began to physically manifest in Hebe owning the stage with an unrestricted sense of catharsis and feeling. This performance of “Nineteen” proved that Hebe is not a fleeting moment in the eye of Australian pop, but a true force to be reckoned with.

In the second half of the hour, Hebe moved from Mood Ring lead single “Crying Your Eyes Out”, an anthemic track that further spelled out the strength she’s found in her individuality, into “Hot!”, an effortlessly catchy pop hit and the singer’s most-streamed track on Spotify. Finally arriving at closer “Birthmark”, Hebe was rounding out what was a resoundingly convincing afternoon. Also the closing track on the Mood Ring EP, “Birthmark” made for a fitting conclusion, as the singer bore her soul to her audience in one last song. Having spent the last few numbers championing her personhood, Hebe allowed herself the room to grieve, singing “I’m an optimist without a backbone”. This resolute moment left her artistic substance centre-stage, leaving her audience with a steadfast reminder that pop music, despite its reputation, is intrinsically meaningful and of significant value to the music landscape.

Hebe’s Mood Ring tour has thoroughly cemented her stardom. With the conclusion of this tour, the singer is beginning to carve a new direction for herself, charting a new course towards unrestricted greatness that will surely persevere far beyond our shores. Local pop music has evaded Australian ears for far too long, and Hebe is making sure that it will find its way back.

Photography courtesy of @contisvisuals