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Winmalee's Jayne Denham talks her upcoming album on Blue Mountains Gazette
Winmalee resident Jayne Denham couldn't rest on her laurels off the back of her last album, Wanted - she needed her next project to be another step up.
After Wanted earned her two Golden Guitar nominations and a nomination for female artist of the year, Ms Denham didn't just want to recreate the same Western-country infusion on her next album, Moonshine.
"It would have been easy to do another spaghetti western country rock album, and everyone would've loved that. But I'm like 'ah, I've kind of already done that'," she said.
"I don't think it ever is gonna be as good... It's a moment in time, it was a piece of art, and everyone loved it... but at the same time that's the fun part of being an artist, is trying to create something new that people are gonna enjoy."
So fortune smiled on her when a song she had been eyeing for years was made available to her; Moonshine, which Ms Denham saw as a fun challenge to rise to.
"That song was written from a guy's perspective. It's a love song... about how when they're together, 'you make me feel like when I drink moonshine'. And I was like 'oh my God, can you imagine if a chick sang this? That would be just so cool," she said.
Spurred on by the novel concept and the drive to step beyond Wanted, Ms Denham immersed herself in prohibition-era creative works, getting a feel for the times.
The end result is a striking country ballad with catchy pop overtones, but flowing with deep currents of prohibition instruments and tunes.
Ms Denham even got the change to collaborate with U.S. country star Colt Ford, saying she was "rapt" when he agreed to feature on the song.
"We got on really well, and he's a really nice guy, so that was fun," she said.
"For an Aussie artist to be working with someone as big as Colt Ford from the USA in country music was a huge thing for me. And it actually meant the Moonshine single and the video clip have done really well so far."
All the above combined makes Moonshine a proudly anachronistic love letter to the sounds, sights and emotions of a different time.
The passion project came together almost entirely from home, as Ms Denham applied the wisdom she learnt from making her last album during lockdown.
"One of my friends said to me 'I think what COVID taught us all; if we're not having fun, don't do it'," she said.
"I do pretty much everything from home now, which is great. It's really fun."
Having grown up in the Blue Mountains, Ms Denham also started a business with her sister during COVID; Sista Styling, a fashion store in Springwood. She said she felt encouraged by how supportive the local response has been.
"The community's just totally embraced it," she said.
Moonshine, the single, is out now and is available on all digital music platforms, with the music video available on YouTube. The full album is planned for release in early 2024, with several more singles to be dropped before the final album launch.
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