Song You Need To Know: Camp Cope, ‘Blue’

Camp Cope’s Georgia Maq has intensely acrobatic range as a vocalist: Sometimes, her voice is an unforgiving rasp, razored, crushing, and full of grit. Other times, it’s tender as a cut, like on “Blue,” the band’s first release in more than three years since dropping 2018’s How to Socialise and Make Friends. The song, which is about trying to love someone while experiencing depression, signals a slightly brighter shift in the Australian trio’s sound as they settle into a careening chorus and buoyed harmonies, even amid aching lyricism.

The band — made up of Maq, bassist Kelly-Dawn Hellmrich, and percussionist Sarah Thompson — is known for their confessional writing style, marked by observations that glide unblinkingly into the heart of things. “Blue” is just as penetrating: Maq is both frank and vulnerable as she sorts out her feelings and acknowledges the emotional ramifications of what she’s going through. “It’s all blue, you know I feel it and I bet you do,” she sings over refined guitar melodies. “And that’s on you, if you wanna take off, baby, you do you.”

In 2019, Maq released a solo project called Pleaser that experimented with electronic production. “Blue” lands somewhere between the smoothness of that record and the guitar-driven perceptiveness all over How to Socialise and Make Friends. The band’s third album is expected out in 2022.

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