The song sonically mirrors this particular mental spiral, slowly building to a quaking, cathartic chorus.“I’ll take you with me down below” bellows Tori over a splinter of surging 90s guitars. The line is delivered with a perfect blend of pop hooks and punk force; A Shirely Manson for the modern era. The song is searing, but it’s also comforting, with an underlying message of how anxiety and inadequacy are experiences we all face collectively.
‘Down Below’ follows on from last year’s reinvention, “Be Here”. It was a left-turn for Tori, who began her career writing affecting country-folk ballads. She began playing guitar at sixteen, when her dad bought her a guitar so they could play music together.
Despite Tori’s evolving sound over the years, her blistering confessional songwriting and delicate pop melodies have remained constant and will no doubt feature as she buckles down to work on new music. If “Down Below” is anything to go by, we can expect nothing less than infectious, emotive rock from this rising Australian force.