Violation and survival have become common themes in art by women over the last few years. By speaking truth to power and digging into personal, painful memories, an image emerges of what it means to exist in the world as a woman.
What about when patriarchy is not only in the physical world, but also the spiritual? It’s a question that the Melbourne-based singer-songwriter Tori Zietsch, who records as Maple Glider, tackles with her second album. Like Julia Jacklin’s excellent 2022 album Pre Pleasure, it explores the impact of a religious upbringing – and the accompanying surveillance, implied or actual – on a woman’s sexuality and sense of self. It is a logical successor to Zietsch’s stunning folksy debut, 2021’s To Enjoy Is the Only Thing, which tracked the seismic shifts of leaving both a religion and a relationship.
