Live Review: Eilish Gilligan's 'Patterns' is sublime synth-pop at its best

2018 has been massive for Melbourne artist EILISH GILLIGAN, and if her latest single 'Patterns' is anything to go by, it's only going to get bigger.

Eilish Gilligan has been crafting absolutely flawless slices of pop since 'Creatures of Habit' and 'The Feeling', her two 2017 singles which won us over with her gorgeous vocal style, endearingly personal lyrics and ear-worm hooks. 'S.M.F.Y' was the track that truly made me a fan. With its quirky lyrics and throwback pop structure it's one of the top tracks of 2018 for me, impressive considering it dropped all the way back in February. In light of 'S.M.F.Y', she's been playing alongside Mallrat during her sold-out tour of Australia, and working on a slew of new tracks.

With 'Patterns' Eilish Gilligan dishes out an achingly relatable self-evaluation, recognising that her thoughts and behaviour are harming her and her relationships. It's a sign of how on-point her writing is that literally every line is so utterly relatable you can't help but be there alongside her as she acknowledges the pain of this realisation and promises to change for the better. All the while, the track ebbs and flows, moving seamlessly from the minimal synths during the verses to an explosion of glittery synths, pounding percussion and a choir of her vocals. The lyrics might be darker than usual but the instrumental is, if anything, more upbeat and hopeful than ever before. It exudes an infectious desire for change and self improvement, and you just know things will be better by the time the track is over.

'Patterns' is Eilish Gilligan at her most honest and introspective, yet it isn't at the sake of her tight songwriting. If anything, it shows that she could probably sing a recipe for carrot cake over some glittery synths and it would still be absolutely magical and probably in my top five of the year. With immense talent for hard-hitting and relatable lyrics in a package of ear-worm pop, Eilish Gilligan is one of my favourite emerging artists of 2018 - here's hoping the rest of this year sees her explode even more, because I can think of few artists more deserving.

IMAGE BY GIULIA GIANNINI MCGAURAN

WORDS BY MAX LEWIS

LISTEN TO MORE NEW MUSIC HERE

SEE ALSO

EILISH GILLIGAN FINDS MAGIC ON 'S.M.F.Y'

EILISH GILLIGAN BREAKS THE MOULD ON 'CREATURE OF HABIT'

EILISH GILLIGAN FASHIONS COSMIC SENTIMENTS ON 'THE FEELING'