Georgia Lines – The Guest House (13th Floor EP Review)
Georgia Lines sings with a voice that feels both delicate and commanding, as quiet as a whisper caught between piano notes and as powerful as a line soaring above sweeping arrangements. With The Guest House, she reaffirms her ability to move between tenderness and strength while embracing new textures and greater rhythmic variety.
The qualities that have defined her rise remain: luminous vocals, lyrical honesty, and arrangements that invite reflection as much as movement. New collaborators such as Matt Hales and Joel Jones, as co-songwriters and as producers, connects her to a wider lyrical and sonic language. This is a set of songs with an expanded musical vocabulary, delivered with conviction.
The increased breadth and depth of sound is mirrored visually. The EP is accompanied by a series of interrelated, finely crafted videos that deepen the emotional palette of the music. Everyday items – a cake, post-it notes, gumboots – recur in scenes with Lines inside and outside the rural “guest house”. The overall effect is a dreamlike tableau that mirror themes of longing, release, and acceptance. This consistency of imagery shows Georgia Lines is an artist who understands how sound and vision can combine to heighten the impact of already impressive songwriting and performance.
Wonderful Life opens with orchestral swells and light vocals that settle into a shuffling rhythm and grounded bass. It is a farewell song marked by resilience, pairing the bittersweet memory of “California was ours, now it feels like a daydream” with the reassurance of the title phrase which lands with the resonance of something lived and understood. The contrast between lush instrumentation and her featherlight vocal phrasing makes the track a moving affirmation of love, even as it fades.
Julia introduces a change of pace with a confident groove and half spoken delivery that draws the listener into a story of rumour and intrigue. “Heard through the vine at your sister’s house that you’re seeing somebody” sets the scene, while the chorus circles back insistently with “There’s something ‘bout Julia, something ‘bout the way that she blows my mind.” The song thrives on its attitude, mixing playfulness with confrontation and showing a lively, conversational side to her writing.
Till the Music Stops pares everything back to piano and near whispered lines, emphasising the lyrics’ sense of hesitation. “In between a lost and a found, suspended with my feet off the ground” captures its uncertainty, and the refrain “I’m not ready, don’t make me choose” gathers force as the arrangement expands with synths and layered harmonies. What begins in fragility grows into something more resolute, leaving one of the EP’s most affecting impressions.
Limoncello lifts the mood, its chiming keys and skittering drums evoking the ease and reflection of early summer evening. The lyrics land as snapshots rather than a continuous story, and their delicacy matches the breezy arrangement. It creates the fleeting sensation of noticing the golden moment before day’s end, and provides a lightness that balances the surrounding songs.
The title track Guest House closes the set with wistful simplicity. Strummed guitar and circling bass underpin instantly relatable lyrics that carry the intimacy of a Carole King ballad. “Wake me up when we get to the good part, ‘cause I’ve seen this movie before” sets a reflective mood, while stretched phrasing and echoed vocals highlight vulnerability. The sparseness leaves her voice exposed, and the final notes linger in the air, drawing the record to a gentle close.
Across these songs, Georgia demonstrates both continuity and growth. The EP is varied in tone yet cohesive, each track like a different room in the same house. What stands out most is the assuredness of her voice, both literally and artistically. The Guest House is a step forward, one that confirms her as a songwriter and performer of depth, range, and enduring presence.
John Bradbury
The Guest House is due out Friday, August 29th
AUCKLAND – Saturday Aug 30 | The Hollywood
Click here to watch the 13th Floor MusicTalk interview with Georgia Lines.
