After a sold-out and standing ovation concert by Hiatus Kaiyote’s Nai Palm last year, Candlelight Original Sessions is returning in 2023 with Australian singer, songwriter and producer JOY.. The multi-hyphenate artist has had a meteoric rise since her triple j Unearthed discovery and has gone from beatmaking in her bedroom to a sold-out Australian tour and touring Europe in support of Demi Lovato in just a handful of years.
However, this February, the classically-trained pianist will take to the stage in The Princess Theatre for a one-off, intimate and completely original Candlelight performance of her own songs, some of which will see special collaborations with a string quartet. For fans of JOY., as well as Australian music, this is a not-to-be-missed, awe-inspiring performance in Queensland’s oldest standing theatre.
Get your tickets to experience JOY. by Candlelight on Saturday 4 February.
Illuminated by the flickering light of hundreds of candles, JOY. (real name, Olivia Joy McCarthy) will pare back the atmospheric synths and pulsating beats of her self-professed sound sorcery for what’s bound to be an equally ethereal experience in the transformative and heritage-listed building. As candles twinkle like stars, audiences will get to sit back and do the inevitable sway that accompanies her blend of lyrics and melodies.
Although the program of songs will not be known until the evening of the candlelit concert, audiences can expect to float through JOY.’s catalogue of tracks. From her debut EP “Ode”, in reference to Ode to Joy, the final movement of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, to her most recent release, Portal, audiences will experience the essence of her soulful, electronic and R&B-infused pop sound as she shifts from guitar to piano and back again.
A string quartet will join JOY. throughout the night on select songs—moments that are bound to demonstrate that Olivia McCarthy is one of Australia’s most promising musical talents.
JOY.’s Candlelight concert comes on the back of a busy year for the artist, which has included production credits on “I Never Liked You”, Future’s Grammy-nominated rap album. She has also spent time recently in the studio with DJ Khalil and collaborating on hits for the Weeknd among a whole suite of other artists.
Performing amongst a sea of candles, the final of JOY.’s three Candlelight Original Sessions concerts takes place in Brisbane on Saturday 4 February at 6:30pm. Doors will open at least 30 minutes prior to the performance so that the audience can find their seats and be immersed in the radiant light of The Princess Theatre.