Castles Made Of Sand

When the R&B singer behind 2004's You Make Me Weak introduced the electro-pop Dune with last year's Shoestring, she obscured her identity – but word got out. The media and online community were intrigued by the allegorical image of Jade MacRae as an Egyptian mummy coming to life. The Sydneysider's metamorphosis began after she relocated to Melbourne four years ago “for love”. MacRae was dating local MC Harley “Phrase” Webster, now her husband. “I also was in a place where I felt like I was ready for a change,” she says.

Her Kiwi parents both professional musicians, MacRae studied piano (and violin), attending the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. Later MacRae, realising she could sing, pursued session work and gigged in bands. In 2005 she debuted with a self-titled album. Nevertheless, with Australians slow to support homegrown R&B, MacRae struggled. “I obviously took a bit of time out from releasing any music after I had put the last Jade [MacRae] album [2008's Get Me Home] out. That hadn't gone very well. I'd just become a little bit lost. I was doing lots of TV stuff [the reality program It Takes Two] and wasn't very happy with where I was at with things.” MacRae helped Webster record his groundbreaking hip hop album Babylon (and collaborated with Katalyst). But her own material wasn't clicking. “I just didn't really feel engaged with it or passionate about what I was coming up with.” MacRae was striving to write music for radio, and urban fans, while retaining “integrity”. “I was kind of chasing my tail,” she says. Unable to find a label deal, she then built a studio with Webster. “We thought, 'Well, maybe the best way is we just do it ourselves'.”

Having access to a private recording space was liberating. “I decided that, with the music, I was just gonna go into it without putting these kind of boundaries on myself or expectations of trying to make something for radio or to please a certain audience or anything like that.” Webster assisted her with production. With the pressure off, the songs flowed. MacRae enjoyed the process. Her confidence grew, too. She elected to release the music independently under another handle, following Shoestring with this month's Oh Innocence EP, to manage “any preconceived notions”. “At the time I really felt like this project needed its own name to differentiate it from what I've done before.” Webster, who 'collects' band names, suggested Dune. “It evoked the right kind of feeling of the music.” MacRae was unfamiliar with David Lynch's film until lately. “I'm not a huge sci-fi fan – although I do really like David Lynch in general.”

Working on Dune, MacRae initially avoided listening to other music. Today she summarises the enterprise as “experimental pop”. The R&B influence remains in the vocal arrangements, yet the sound is “honouring more classic synth-based music from the '70s and '80s.” Indeed, MacRae “inherited” vintage gear from her noted keyboardist dad Dave. She's likewise fully “utilising” her training on the keys. In Dune's “energetic” live show MacRae plays synths and operates a sampler in addition to singing. She's joined by a bassist and drummer. They perform the EP plus songs from an upcoming album.

Above all, Dune is gaining momentum, MacRae embarking on her first-ever Australian headlining tour. “The funny thing is that I've actually never done my own tour,” she reveals. “It's only now that I'm getting to do my own show and doing it how I want to. I'm really excited about that.” In May she'll even play the UK, hitting Brighton's The Great Escape. Catch her while you can.

Dune will be playing the following dates:

Wednesday 20 March - Beach Road Hotel, Bondi NSW
Thursday 21 March - FBi Social, Sydney NSW
Saturday 23 March - Ding Dong Lounge, Melbourne VIC