Heartache & Melody – Dom Alessio, Triple J Home’n’Hosed

Danielle Caruana must have gone through one shitty relationship. Under her nom de plume Mama Kin, her first single ‘Tore My Heart Out’ is Danielle’s story of not being able to let go of a former lover, even though he continues to break her heart. Mama Kin paints a melancholic picture, asking with equal measures of sadness and bewilderment: “You tore my heart out / Why’d you do that for?” But then comes the first verse: “I turned to you and said ‘No siree’ when you said ‘Hey you’ll be coming back to me’.” We find out in the next verse that she acquieses: “I put up my blinkers and I clicked my heels / My hungry little heart thought you were for real.”

It’s a universal story, and if you’ve haven’t fallen for someone you shouldn’t have, or believed someone you shouldn’t have, then you know someone who has. Lyrically and musically Mama Kin doesn’t confuse her messages. ‘Tore My Heart Out’ is built on a solid bed of melody, coming from a soulful piano and anchoring bass line, embellished with a keening cello and the slight clicking of an electronic beat. It ebbs and flows throughout, pulling you along for the beautiful (but heartbreaking) journey.