blusher

In pursuit of bright, uplifting pop sounds to counter the darkness brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, Australian trio Blusher scored domestic success with buoyant numbers such as “Dead End” from their 2023 EP Should We Go Dance?. The group has since folded electro and hyperpop textures into its style, building a widening overseas audience through high-energy shows driven by constant movement.

Jade Ingvarson-Favretto, Lauren Coutts, and Miranda Ward, three emerging pop songwriters, had each been carving out separate careers until they discovered the strengths of working as a unit. Ingvarson-Favretto had performed with her parents in an ABBA tribute act from childhood onward; Coutts had been honing her skills behind the boards as a producer; and Ward had combined classical studies with a passion for guitar. After clicking during a 2021 writing session, the three began rapidly generating material designed to capture the freewheeling spirit of a night out among friends, an experience that had grown scarce amid pandemic restrictions.

The band released its debut Australian single, the warmly received “Softly Spoken,” in 2022. Issued the following year, the buoyant club reverie “Dead End” performed even more strongly and secured the trio a contract with Atlantic Records. Together with three additional tracks, those songs formed the EP Should We Go Dance?, which the group supported by opening for Norwegian art-pop artist Aurora. Its concerts, marked by precise choreography and fluid stage setups that found the members switching between several instruments, helped foster a following beyond the Antipodes. Later 2024 releases including “Rave Angel,” “Accelerator,” and “24 Hours in Paris” were shaped in collaboration with producers Pink Slip (Jason Derulo, Fletcher, K. Flay) and Donny Bravo (Disclosure).