"Many moons ago", Lucy Gooch was just a young English student on a gap year, travelling around New Zealand and Australia. She ended up in Melbourne, where her life took a turn.

After always intending to be a visual artist, in Melbourne she started playing music, performing at open mics. "I must've secretly wanted to do music, and it just came out when I was there," Gooch recalls.

Performing at "this place near AC/DC lane", she got some life-changing advice: she shouldn't play folk covers, but write her own songs.

Years later, Gooch has finally released her debut album, Desert Window. Building off two impressive EPs —2020's Rushing and 2021's Rain's Break— it ripples with gorgeous atmospheric compositions in which her voice takes centre-stage.

In a conversation filled with self-deprecation, Gooch talks to The International Pop Underground's Anthony Carew about her upbringing singing in choirs, her hopes for Desert Window, the musical influences on the album (John Martyn, Talk Talk, David Sylvian), and her discomfort with the label 'ambient'.

Feature image: Juliet Klottrup