Following the glowing reception of debut song ‘As Tradition‘, Naarm/Melbourne-based singer-songwriter Maple Glider is releasing her second single ‘Good Thing’ – a song born of that frozen and fretful time just before you’re going to hurt someone you have loved by leaving them. Listen HERE, watch HERE.

Opening with her light and velvety voice accompanied by a sparsely strummed guitar, Maple Glider (aka Tori Zietsch) loses no time in revealing the state of sadness she’s in: “I wrote it out of a place of defeat. I was really heartbroken at this point, and very confused.”

Eschewing a traditional chorus, the repeated refrain is more a bookend to each verse. With the drums coming to life, the emotional apex hits in verse three with the revelation she’s cutting ties before things turn sour: “I like the feeling of my independence and I think I was afraid of putting energy into the wrong people. Sometimes we make decisions out of fear and sometimes it’s because we know that it is the best decision to make. Those lines can get very blurry.”

The video was made with creative collaborator and housemate Bridgette Winten, in the 5km radius around their Brunswick home (a limit due to COVID lockdown measures). Working with colour and contrast, and shot on Super 8, Maple Glider plays off her surroundings, whether it’s lush creek-beds or stark industrial wastelands.

Since its release mid-September, debut single ‘As Tradition‘ has had over 1 million streams (thanks largely to love from Apple Music’s editorial team), has been added to Double J, triple j Unearthed, FBi Radio, 2SER and Edge Radio, and was spun first by Bob Boilen on NPR’s All Songs Considered. In the months that followed, Maple Glider’s domestic label Pieater has joined forces with Partisan Records (Laura Marling, Fela Kuti, Cigarettes After Sex, Fontaines D.C.) for releasing her music to the rest of the world. 

Maple Glider‘s striking emotionality is at the center of her performance, leaning into an intimacy that is achieved by way of deeply personal reflections and velvety melodic compositions. Her vocals melt into layers of plucked acoustic guitar and lulling piano, drawing on the somber styles of folk contemporaries with a stark tenderness and introspection that assumes the listener is inside her bedroom as she plays for herself.

After landing in Melbourne in her early 20s, Maple partnered up with her childhood friend, producer Daniel Pinkerton, forming the duo Seavera, pairing acoustic guitars and wonky uprights with dramatic electronics. They parted ways soon after releasing an EP in early 2018, with Zietsch moving to the musical seaside town of Brighton, U.K. It was there she began to work on solo material…

After experiencing falling in and out of love, traveling extensively, writing non-stop, and basking in the lengthy European summer hours, she returned to Melbourne in late 2019 with a SoundCloud account full to capacity of demo uploads. Maple Glider was officially set to take flight.

Zietsch enlisted Tom Iansek (Big Scary, #1 Dads, The Paper Kites, Hockey Dad) to produce and record some of the many, many songs she was ready to get down. During the shared time spent at Pieater’s studio BellBird with Iansek, the wider team got to fully appreciate the wonderful artistry and beauty of Maple Glider and welcomed her to the family.

‘Good Thing‘ is out now, buy/stream it here.

PRAISE FOR MAPLE GLIDER’S ‘AS TRADITION’

“Hell of a song and hell of a tone”
Tommy Faith, triple j Unearthed

“Glider’s airy vocals float beautifully throughout the song, with Iansek’s signature slow-burning and evocative production making for a stunning listen”
NME

“A piece that tries to unravel the intricacies of a religious upbringing and a relationship, both of which kept her from being her true self”
Bob Boilen (NPR)

“As Tradition quivers with its intimacy, drawing from the same deeply personal chord of Julia Jacklin and Angie McMahon, albeit with nuances and touches that make it distinct to herself”
Pilerats

LYRICS
There are no words I have to say
In this moment
You’re asking me if I’m okay
But I need time to process
All these things that make me lose my focus
And all these parts of me I had not noticed

Before you came
Before you came

I know you think I’m being cold
But I can’t bear to look at you today
‘Cause every single time I do I fear
It might be the last time that you’ll see me this wa

Way
Way

But I guess that’s how we learn
By setting fire to things that bring us life
Before we’ve got to watch them burn
And so I’ll say goodbye
Because I’d rather kill a good thing
Than wait for it to die

Die
Die

So draw your lines upon my skin
For the very final time
And I will colour all them in
And retrace them until I
Can’t remember what it feels like
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