The Top 25 Albums Of 2021 (So Far): Babitha - 'Through The Light'

Through The Light could have easily been marketed as a long-lost EP from a forgotten ‘70s folk star, and no one would have been any the wiser. 

Carrying the flame of Americana-revival alongside the likes of Orville Peck and Colter Wall, Babitha (the stage name of NSW artist Imogen Grist) seems hand-plucked out of a bygone age of dustbowls and bottleneck guitars.

Grist’s transcendent quality takes a voice that tugs on your heartstrings and claws it deep into your soul. Her sorrowed yet lilting tone pulls your mind in opposite directions - wrenching at the pain of the lyrics while swaying to the chilled out country timbre. 

"Why do we say the things we don’t believe?" she asks on closing number Carry On - a sentiment that has been flowing throughout the entirety of the EP yet is only put into words in its final moments. It leaves the listener desolate after only 22 minutes, and eager to immediately hit play again.