Jack River - Sugar Mountain (2018)

Jack River's much-anticipated debut LP Sugar Mountain is a phosphorescent album. It seems to glow with pop highs and spacey riffs, but come closer and you'll glimpse the darkness in its depths. The first clue is in the title, says Jack River (real name Holly Rankin). Sugar Mountain is named after Neil Young's bittersweet ode to youth and the loss of innocence. As Rankin explains it, "It's the souvenir of my youth, the wish of what it could have been." Like everything she touches, each of the songs from Sugar Mountain were meticulously written, produced and performed by Rankin only working with co-producers Xavier Dunn and John Castle. Spike Stent lent his mixing magic to the tracks, adding the final icing on the cake. With the first three singles from the LP (Fool's Gold, Fault Line, Ballroom) amassing over 5 million streams online, it's just a taste of what's to come from this standout album. Outside of her music as Jack River, Holly Rankin simply cannot sit still. Rankin, along with a team of local mates, is responsible for Grow Your Own Festival - a community enriching festival in her hometown of Forster. She also heads up Electric Lady, a platform that aims to amplify the strength of women in music, politics, science, sport and beyond.