Sydney artist Liyah Knight says her debut EP, Nesting, is about the notion of “unpacking yourself”. A babushka or nesting doll was, she figured, the perfect visual representation of that concept, hence the EP’s title. “There are so many different parts of you, and being able to get to that core is frightening, but it’s worth at least trying to do,” she tells Apple Music. The EP is a concept piece, with each track flowing thematically, if not sonically, into the next. “I didn’t just want it to be a bunch of songs, I wanted it to be a journey,” she offers. Here, Knight offers a track-by-track guide to Nesting. Better Unsaid “It’s about my first crush and wanting to be what he wanted me to be. It’s about that desire to be desirable. When you’re a teenager and you’re reading the teen magazines and stories on ‘10 Steps to Get Your Crush’, there are all these tricks–look this way, dress this way. It’s this learned conditioning that women are supposed to present themselves to the world in a way that is digestible. And it’s not only women—men are supposed to be strong, macho. So I guess the outermost layer is what you think the world expects from you.” Tipsy “‘Tipsy’ is the resistance. ‘Tipsy’ is fighting against that whole submissive outer layer. It’s being the exact opposite, being the one that initiates the one-night stand ’cause it’s always been a dude thing. ‘Tipsy’ is the woman who wants to have the no strings attached. Initially I thought with ‘Tipsy’ I was acting like a dude and taking on that persona of being the non-submissive because I was forward-thinking, but with ‘Mine’ it comes out that it was more a matter of not wanting to commit because I was afraid of it.” Mine “Off the back of ‘Tipsy’, ‘Mine’ is realising that as much as resistance is a good thing, sometimes there can be more underneath it. In this case it’s my relationship with my dad, and the reason I’m not committing is because my fear of someone leaving is terrifying. Sometimes we don’t see the deeper aspect of what’s behind our actions and what’s behind what we feel. It’s the most vulnerable song on the EP.” Energy “‘Energy’ is realising that underneath all the factors that make you who you are is the energy that’s passing through you and is in you regardless of what happens or who you’re around or what you do. It’s just understanding that regardless of what people see of you, at the end of the day you’ve always got how you see yourself, so you need to take care of that. You need to have a solid relationship with yourself.” Yikes “After you’ve gone through the energy phase of your life and you accept yourself, then you’re less inclined to accept any other things that don’t align with that. Or anything that doesn’t align with what you want for yourself. ‘Yikes’ is taking no shit. When it comes to relationships, ‘Better Unsaid’ is thinking you need someone to complete you, and then you’ve got ‘Tipsy’ which is the exact opposite, and then ‘Mine’ is not being able to cope with someone who isn’t around, and ‘Yikes’ is realising that any relationship you have, with whoever it is, it’s not completion, it’s a complementary situation where you exist on your own and they exist on their own. If everyone’s foundations are solid, then that’s going to be a healthy relationship.” Somebody, You “Once you establish those standards and your boundaries, then you may meet somebody who accepts and respects your boundaries and your worth. And that’s the ideal coexistence, where you both love yourselves and you can love each other. It’s a bit of a mushy song, but it’s really nice.”