Perth's Tanaya Harper channels 90s indie pop with new solo single, 'Bad Faith'

Lauded independent Perth artist Tanaya Harper returns with a new sound on her forthcoming single ‘Bad Faith’. After teaming up with local classical musicians and composers for her backyard concert and subsequent release Tender is the Night, VOL1 and successfully raising funds to assist Perth bushfire victims, Tanaya is excited to now be releasing some fresh music of her own. ‘Bad Faith’ follows on from Tanaya’s previous single ‘Emma’ as the second track lifted from her anticipated third EP due later in the year.

Bringing a heavy 90’s aesthetic to the fray, Perth’s celebrated independent artist Tanaya Harper returns with new single ‘Bad Faith’.

After teaming up with local classical musicians and composers for her backyard concert and subsequent release Tender is the Night, VOL1, and successfully raising funds to assist Perth bushfire victims, Tanaya is excited to now be releasing some fresh music of her own.

‘Bad Faith’ follows on from Tanaya’ previous single, ‘Emma’ as the second track lifted from her anticipated third EP due later in the year. ‘Bad Faith’ trades its predecessor's punchy rock tropes for woozy vibes and introverted bedroom musings. The song warbles with hazy fuzz, dreamy vocals and a wandering bassline, drifting further into jangle-pop territory whilst maintaining Tanaya’s undeniably buoyant ‘90s aesthetic.

This stylistic shift further highlights Tanaya’s immense musicality and the broad elasticity of her songwriting. Produced by Dave Parkin, Tanaya recalls the recording process was an exercise in experimentation, “Recording the song with Dave Parkin was so fun. When recording the ‘taking the piss’ sections earlier in the song I was trying out harmonies but none of them worked. So we decided on this octave whisper harmony that fit so perfectly. Also, the belting bit in the final chorus of Hey’s and Oh’s was all done in one breath which I was pretty proud of!” Of the track, Tanaya said that it was a dark song to write, focusing on the complications of leaving relationships.

“Bad Faith was a pretty dark song to write. This might be totally untrue, but I remember once hearing that women tend to emotionally leave a relationship before they actually leave. This was my moment of ‘checking out’, I guess. The situation is complicated, I’ll just say that, so in the end, despite years of working at a relationship, it seemed nothing had changed and we’d just gone around in circles trying to capture those moments of bliss. So I truly felt like they were just taking the piss and that I deserved better,” she said. Since first stepping out on her own in 2017 as a solo live act, Tanaya Harper has performed with some of the country's most cherished acts, supporting the likes of Jen Cloher, Body Type, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, Stella Donnelly and Alex The Astronaut.

Following the success of Tanaya’s second EP, 2020’s Slow Motion Breakup, Tanaya is gearing up to release her third EP in the second half of 2021 and hopes to perform to new and returning fans in the not-too-distant future. Stay tuned for impending dates.