This week's PBS Feature Album is Blush Response, the third album from Naarm/Melbourne trio Acopia.
The full-length album distils Acopia’s quiet intensity into its clearest form yet. A reflective and emotionally articulate collection, the eight-track record finds the band exploring themes of unresolved emotions, distance in relationships, and the delicate balance between fragility and resilience.
Recorded over the course of a year in two Naarm studios, including an abandoned rooftop office in South Yarra, Blush Response carries with it a sense of impermanence that seeps into the music. “We found out the building was set to be demolished in July, which gave the whole process a strange, bittersweet edge,” the band recalls. “That feeling of fragility hung in the air and made its way into the record.” What emerges is a collection marked by quiet intensity—hushed, intimate, and cuttingly precise. From the heaviness of unspoken words (‘See You In Everyone’) to the guitar-driven insistence of moving forward (‘Falter’), the songs map an arc of longing and self-reflection. The record also highlights an evolution in sound for Acopia, with bassist Lachlan handling vocal duties for the band’s first duet ‘Let Down’, and adding an overall more guitar forward dimension to their trademark stripped down dream pop sound.
Formed in 2018 by Kate Durman, Lachlan McGeehan and Morgan Wright, Acopia began with a bare-bones ethos: sparse, slow, and restrained. Over time, they’ve evolved into a more instinctive, emotionally open project embracing mood, texture and vulnerability. Their debut Chances (2022) introduced their quiet power; 2023’s self-titled LP earned widespread acclaim for its subtle emotional weight. With Blush Response, Acopia step into their most assured chapter yet; emotionally clearer, sonically bolder, and more connected than ever.
Tune in all this week to hear tracks from Blush Response and PBS Members have the chance to win a copy of the album on vinyl: simply email your name and membership number to before midnight Sunday September 21.
Not a PBS Member? Join now!
TOP TRACKS WE'RE LOVING THIS WEEK
Moss Body - 'Learn How To Love'
Cate Le Bon - 'Heaven Is No Feeling'
Way Dynamic - 'Miffed It'
Neko Case - 'Winchester Mansion of Sound'
Daniel Avery - 'Greasy off the Racing Line' feat. Alison Mosshart
Loretta Miller - 'Passenger Side'
Geoffrey O'Connor - 'Only Happy When It Rains'
Cut Copy and Kate Bollinger - 'Belong To You'
KNEECAP and Paul Hartnoll - 'Sayōnara'
Cosmic Psychos - 'I Like Beer'
