Bertie Blackman's songs pulse, bounce and grind. They have hooks that hang around the air for days. Her latest single 'Thump' is a true standout from her current album Secrets and Lies. Haunting vocals soar, industrial electronics collide and the track troughs into eerie breaths of quiet throughout. For Bertie Blackman, 'Thump' captures that "feeling of walking home late at night; your footsteps hit the pavement and your whole body pulsates. You become really aware of your breath and heartbeat."

'Thump' was the beginning of a new road for Bertie as it fuses her earthy vocals with electronic layers.

'Thump' echoes a time when Courtney Love cleaned herself up and produced perfectly dirty pop songs. And when the likes of PJ Harvey, Kim Gordon and Kate Bush made musical history. But Bertie Blackman's music isn't just heaving with 90s rock nostalgia; she fits with the contemporary ilk of Karen O and Beth Ditto too. Like her predecessors, Bertie Blackman gears her songwriting towards powerful vocals: "I wanted to write a song that really carried my vocal range; the best way of doing that is jumping octaves really quickly. It's quite difficult to do, but I've never had vocal training - so I just did it."

Bertie says: "Sometimes you're walking home and you think someone might be following you and they're not; it's just the echo of your footsteps. That's what this single is all about."

Thump was produced by Sydney-based UK producer, Lee Groves (Goldfrapp/Depeche Mode) and mixed by Dave Bascombe in the UK (Tears for Fears/Royksopp).

The official video clip for 'Thump'. Directed by Don Cameron, Produced by Michelle Sahayan for Collider, Sydney.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sbIgvHOCEI