New Music: MAGNETS – Speak

Music is often defined and inspired by the life of its creator, and Speak by MAGNETS – the solo project of Australian musician, environmental activist, and dressmaker Siobhan McGinnity – is a positive, persuasive, and highly enjoyable example of that phenomena.

The whirling and at times psychedelic indie-pop of Speak delivers a serious message, but comes across like a conversation with a friend. The lyrics are framed in an arrangement that conveys the urgency of the message via its quick and warm tones, the song lifting the listener and reassuring them via a bright vocal style that’ll appeal to fans of Feist, The Sundays, and Woodes.

Speak was part-inspired by the effect of fast fashion on the environment. McGinnity recalls, “During a flare of one of my health concerns, I was housebound, unable to walk for months. The answer to my loneliness was a sale at Spotlight, and a half-price sewing machine on the kitchen table.”

“In the process of teaching myself how to sew, I deep-dived into fibers, manufacturing, the treatment of garment workers, and the extreme toll our waste has on the planet. Heavy with all I’d learned, I decided not to buy clothes for two years, including my wedding jumpsuit and four bridesmaid dresses which I made myself.”

Speak is streaming on Apple Music, YouTube Music, and Spotify. You can catch up with MAGNETS on Instagram and Facebook, while her popular TikTok channel is the place to go to learn more about McGinnity’s environmental activities.