Mara shares her 'illogical memoir' playlist in celebration of new single 'City Pop'

Mara (she/her) is a pivotal figure in the experimental music community of Gadigal Land/Sydney. The producer has her hand in all manner of boundary pushing art, from art collective Temporary Position and exhibition Building The Palace, to her work at the Powerhouse Museum and occasional appearances on the city’s FBi Radio.

‘At Every Corner’, Mara’s recent release via the much beloved Pure Space, was a captivating collage from audio snippets of her travels and performances along the way. The result is a mesmerising long-play that invites the listener to listen in on her ever wandering journey.

‘City Pop’ is a spiritual successor to that release, again done via Pure Space, which saw the light of day just over a week ago.

To celebrate the release, Mara has put together a playlist of her favourite current ambient releases to ease us into her world, and deeper into a year likely fraught with very conflicting energy.

Listen to the playlist via streaming services, or if you have the means, support the artists via Mara’s BuyMusic.Club listing.

Joyul is a Seoul-based sound artist whose sound is completely elevated when playing live – it becomes so performative with abrasive bowing but countered with reverbed vocals. There’s a mix of desperation and calm.

Maybe it’s a little corny but it's very true – ‘One way to love is to pay attention’ – and I think that’s how I approach making music in place / environment.

This whole release feels like you are listening between streets, walking between conversations, and through changing intensities and scales of landscape. At moments the intimacy feels like eavesdropping.

Ulla’s music is exciting – it’s joyous and bouncing and complex. I’ve been lucky to share the stage with her in Eora Sydney and soon again at Kwia in Berlin.

This track was made quickly during this last summer using two recordings taken in the middle of winter 2020 at LungA School in Seydisfjörður, Iceland – a viola improvisation and a voice note while walking through the snow. I’ve been interested in the sound between notes and the fragmentation of language, which is how I approached editing this track — taking the sliding transitions and forming new words through stuttering.

What Sonya can do with her voice is incredible and placing in contrast and unity with Ben’s synthesis really amplifies the textures and tones of these different energy sources.

Pavel has a real hold on his production that allows him to go full speed, fluttering energy.

I’m a sucker for songs that refrence ‘song’ or listening to music. It’s meta and very relatable. It’s preparing me to be on tour.

The way this album weaves field recordings and orchestral arrangements throughout her releases is always a big inspiration for me. I love the level of drama and the intimacy throughout their music.

Created from field recordings gathered while travelling through Java and Bali in late 2024, I was hoping to capture the vibrant street music everpresent in daily life. Though listening back, these melodies were constantly overwhelmed by the relentless sounds of traffic, construction, and machinery.

In City Pop, I chose to lean into this sonic tension, amplifying the distortion and layering to craft a reflective assemblage. The piece questions what is lost beneath the din: what culture, what knowledge, what landscapes erode under the veneer of progress? City Pop is an exploration of the duality between sound and silence, tradition and change.

Mica Levi makes it onto most of my playlists in some form. I think throughout this playlist I’ve been finding songs that mix gentle and abrasive, and Good Sad Happy Bad do it so well.

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Listen to ‘City Pop’ via Pure Space’s Bandcamp, and follow Mara via Instagram.

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Jack Colquhoun is Mixmag ANZ's Managing Editor, find him on Instagram.