CAITI BAKER

To listen to an artist like Caiti Baker, it is impossible not to get swept up in a voice that is so seasoned and yet, so contemporary and fresh. Since 2016, the Australian music scene has been enamoured with her rich sonic direction and powerful, soulful presence.

Caiti’s musical journey began at home, as many do, with early exposure to blues, soul, rock ‘n roll, gospel, and jazz, music infiltrating her sphere of influence, largely thanks to her blues musician father. And from there, a love of R&B and hip hop developed - a child of the ‘90s meant that Caiti’s formative years were dictated by some of the greats: Aaliyah. Erykah. TLC.

Throughout her early career, Caiti was able to explore unique and intricate sonic influences, while remaining true to her musical roots and strengths. First, with R&B/soul outfit Sietta - Caiti’s first official project with Darwin musician and producer, James Mangohig aka Kuya James. The project opened up doors for Caiti and soon enough came industry praise and multiple shows around Australia and internationally.

As a solo performer, Caiti’s wings properly spread - since 2015 she has been wooing Australian audiences with her intensely personal brand of songwriting and nuanced delivery. Her debut solo album, Zinc, dropped in 2017 to widespread praise from outlets including Rolling Stone Australia and The Weekend Australian, while also being featured on Double J. The album served as an introduction to new facets of Caiti’s creativity; but it certainly wasn’t a record that would pigeon hole the artist.

The AIR Award winning 2019 EP Dust (Part 1) proved to be a defining moment for Caiti as a songwriter and performer. Renewed confidence and a sense of empowerment that was threaded beautifully throughout the material marked the direction Caiti knew she needed to head down from this point forward.

As the world was forced to stop and take stock of itself in 2020, Caiti produced her most personal effort to date, a love letter to her home of the Northern Territory in Mary Of The North. Flourishing within a soundscape marked by striking production and vivid imagery, the record showed Caiti at a particular songwriting and creative peak.

Like any sense of self and sense of identity, it’s natural to embrace different chapters and periods of change.

This is Caiti’s prerogative moving into 2021.

The Caiti that fans and newcomers are about to meet is a Caiti that has never been more comfortable and confident in her own skin. Taking the lessons of the past and inspirations for the future, bringing both together in a way that has created something that simply screams Caiti, she presents MELLOW and now her latest single SPICE!

Co-produced by in-demand east coast producer Papertoy and Kuya James, both MELLOW and SPICE sees Caiti step further into a spotlight that feels just right for her at this time in her life.

Embracing life, love and intimacy in this new phase of adulthood has become reflected in her music in the purest and most exciting of ways - now Caiti is ready to share it. Come on for the ride.

WILSN

It is with great pride that Ivy League Records announce the signing of talented Melbourne artist WILSN, who joins the likes of The Teskey Brothers, The Rubens, Rolling Blackouts CF, Hatchie, A. Swayze & the Ghosts and Mia Wray on the label’s roster.

Possessing the kind of voice that stops you in your tracks, WILSN makes classic soul music with a contemporary approach and a healthy dose of raw power. Alongside her undeniable show-stopping vocals, WILSN’s timeless songwriting prowess is on display with ‘You Know Better’ – a musical diary entry about catching your cheating lover red handed.

Powered by a battery of horns, a driving rhythm section, and showcasing her cathartic vocal crescendos, ‘You Know Better’ puts the listener right there in the room with WILSN and her band. It’s a song that wouldn’t be out of place on Mark Ronson’s Version record – it’s music to get your head nodding, body moving and blood rushing!

Hailing from Geelong, WILSN moved to Melbourne out of high school after being accepted to study Jazz at Melbourne’s prestigious Victorian Collage of the Arts, spending her life looking up to classic soul and jazz singers like Billie Holiday, Etta James, Ella Fitzgerald and Aretha Franklin.

She would pen songs that celebrated the rich history of soul, while injecting her own personality and attitude into each track. She quickly banked up a collection of songs she wasn’t sure there was space for in a musical landscape mostly made up of big pop hits and electronic beats at that time.

After a few shows around Melbourne, it wasn’t long before she was noticed and picked up by international publishing juggernaut Pulse Music Group (Kehlani, Yebba) / Native Tongue (Courtney Barnett, Aldous Harding) and relocated to Nashville. After spending two years in writing rooms with Grammy Award winning writers honing her craft, WILSN was asked to join The Teskey Brothers on their 2019 UK/Europe tour – playing to sold out crowds across the continent.

It was on this tour that WILSN reconnected with her love of soul – the music she always knew she wanted to make - and realised there was a huge audience for the music she had been making before her trip to Nashville. Moving back home to Melbourne, she picked up where she’d left off and during the lockdown of 2020 she began recording anew with producer Stephen Charles (Blessed, Bliss N Eso).

‘You Know Better’ is just the first taste of what is to come from one of the country’s most exciting new talents. WILSN has finally arrived and you best be ready.