Thelma Plum has come a long way since she released her first single Father Said back in 2012 at the incredibly young age of 17. That same year she won triple j's unearthed competition which allowed her to perform at the National Indigenous Music Awards, before releasing her hugely successful debut EP Rosie, and subsequently sharing stages with both local and international superstars.

With the release of her second EP Monsters now upon us, it becomes all the more evident just how much she has grown as an artist since those early stages – her humble guitar is swapped for a more complex, modern and mature soundscape, which manages to showcase her serene vocals and songwriting prowess to a greater degree. Helping her out with the beautiful backing beats found on the EP is legendary Australian producer M-Phazes, a pairing which came about as Plum reveals, “I have always loved [M-Phazes], everything he touches is amazing. I'd been listening to Illy's album and I remember listening to the backing of his tracks and thinking, 'Wow this is incredible,' like all the noises when you take away the vocals and strip it back, so I pretty much stalked him” she laughs. “I was at an album playing in Brisbane and I kind of stalked my way backstage and I said to Illy, 'Please let me meet Phazes,' and then I just hung around until he met me!”

Exploring a new avenue of style and composition in her music was of course exciting, but as Plum admits also daunting at times, making the help of M-Phazes all the more valuable. “I suppose I just wanted to do things bigger and better this time around, but I've just never really known how to do stuff like that. I've only ever made music with just me and my guitar, so it was really good to be able to find somebody who could help me do that. This EP is a big change for me, but hopefully a good change.”

The EP also sees the teenager delving into slightly darker territories, aptly surmised by the work's title, to which Plum explains, “The songs are about not the happiest of times, they were all written at a time when something not so great was going on, and they all kind of fit together because of that. I actually feel like this EP is my monster.”

New sounds and styles coming from the studio mean Plum is now able to explore new territory with her live show, introducing a bigger and bolder sound to her gigs along the east coast. “Yeah, I've got a cool band joining me now which I'm pretty excited about because I've never played with a band before! I'm also a little bit nervous because I guess people who have come to my shows before have only ever seen me on stage with just a guitar, but yeah it's a full band now and we've tried to make the whole set sound a bit more like the new EP, so I guess the live show will be a little bit more dancey than it used to be.”