Melbourne-born, London-based triple threat Pretty Girl takes a look inside 10 of the tracks on her vibrant fabric mix in an extra special On Repeat. 

Emerging as one of underground dance music’s most backable talents, Melbourne-born, London-based DJ, producer and singer Pretty Girl delves through garage, house and left-field pop in her eclectic and ever evolving sonic terrain. A surefire sign of her growing acclaim, she today joins an assortment of the biggest names in electronic music — Overmono, Kode9& Burial, Chaos In The CBD, etc — as the latest entry into the fabric presents mix series. 

The multi-talented creative has put together a heady, club-ready collection of cuts set to fully kick off your summer, just in time for Worthy Farm. To celebrate the mix, Pretty Girl drops by to delve into 10 of the standout tracks, explaining her colourful picks in a Wonderland exclusive. 

Listen to the full mix…

Pretty Girl Is On Repeat…

Clarian – “Unrest”

This song conjures up the image of a garden bed of thirsty green plants being rained on. There’s a wetness to the song, a feeling of cleansing and rejuvenating. I like having this at the start of the mix as it’s a palette cleanser. Especially the moment where it goes half-time, that really feels like you’re taking a deep breath before walking into something new. 

Palms Trax – “Outflight”

I just loooove this song. It’s so simple, just layered melodies that all add together to create a glittery, beautiful soundscape. And the groovy, simple, confident percussion, with that really long 808 kick drum. Reminds me of being 19 at a day party. I don’t remember the first time I heard this song, but Palms Trax were a huge part of the soundtrack to my early days in the dance music scene.

Lyric – “11:44 (AM Version)”

This song is definitely a shake up from the rest of the songs on the mix, but I think there’s always room for a vibe shift, and this song is perfect. It’s deep, confident, and fun. I was really happy to include Lyric because I think she is so amazing and someone I look up to a lot, it’s an honour to have included her really. 

Sleep D – “Planet Waves”

I could talk about Sleep D all day, and sometimes I really do, in green rooms all over the world. I first found them in 2017, my year of true introduction into the Melbourne/Naarm music scene. I just love their music. It’s slick and it’s deep. Australian prog is its own thing, and it’s a genre that has a special corner in my heart. Planet Waves is especially nice since it has so many lush synth layers.

Pretty Girl – “Hahaha”

This song was so fun to make. Usually in my production I’m quite heavy handed and deliberate and think about what everything means and how it sounds and what story it tells emotionally, and I’m learning that maybe that’s not the most honest way to make music. For this song I just said to myself “let’s make something that’s not that deep”. I’d been listening to heaps of 2000s electro and was really inspired by their huge and bold synth lines at the time, so Hahaha was born from a new glimmer of inspiration. 

Burnski – “Pacific”

Over the last year I’ve become a huge fan of Burnski, who also makes music under Instinct. I love producers who are able to take the conventions of a genre, like speed garage/UKG in the instance of this song, but then are able to weave in unexpected or diverse elements to make a song its own thing. I get so bored of music that just feels like a blueprint of a genre, like Beatport Top 10 Speed Garage. Boringgggg; give me something unique; like this track. 

Jeigo – “Chapel”

I’ve been a Jeigo fan for like 5 or 6 years now. With this song, and with the whole EP that this song is on, he plays a lot with sustained basslines, just one held note, and I loooooove that. The bassline in this song feels like an exhalation, it’s kind of grounding and centering. It feels locked in. I also love that this EP is different to a lot of Jeigo’s other work – it’s deeper and heavier. I like  to think that there is always space for producers to go deeper into their sounds, or lighter, you’re not tied to an energy, your sound is always changing and evolving with you. That’s real artistry. 

Aleksandir – “valentine ᯓ♡”

This song is wonky in the best way possible, it’s interesting, it’s got a slight darkness, a slight curiosity, maybe a kind of cheekiness? I feel like the Cheshire cat from Alice In Wonderland would play this in a mix. Aleksandir is such a talented producer. Looking back on this mix now, it’s actually hard to comprehend the amount of talent that these artists have, and it’s something I always want to celebrate. 

SWIM – “Break”

SWIM is kind of a brother to me in music – we’re both from Melbourne, we look related, and although our music isn’t the same, it’s from the same family of sounds. So of course I had to include him in my fabric presents compilation! This song is only a small sliver of his amazing discography and his signature, beautiful sound. It was a pleasure to include this song. 

Otik – “X-Dream”

Otik is yet another beautifully talented producer that I’m so happy to showcase on this compilation. This song has a feeling that is hard to create deliberately in production – a feeling of acceptance and hope. All those feelings – nostalgia, acceptance, hope, bittersweetness – they’re something I connect to so much in music, and I love that there’s no formula to achieve them. If you’re feeling it, it just comes out in the production, it’s something emotional that gets woven into the bones of the song. X-Dream is such a good example of this, and I really love it.