“There was only ever one thing, one goal, one purpose. Voice.” Donné’s music takes this concept of voice and hones it into a laser beam. There is no doubt as to the emotional intent within her works and this intention is displayed in a manner so stripped down and raw it is intoxicating.

Donné’s music began in the underworld of Sydney’s artist run spaces, warehouses and speakeasies. Spaces where no barriers were drawn to compromise the works therein. “You could be singing a jazz ballad one moment, a baroque aria the next and screaming indeterminate noise for the encore. Electronic artists, instrument makers, painters, musicians, writers, performance artists and poets collected in cauldrons of creativity. It’s a world of complete insanity and brilliant creative sparks.” The production and release of her first album Live @ The Frequency Lab (2004) came about in such a place. Comprising of song, spoken word poetry, hybrid instruments, junk percussion and a choir; this underground release is about as eclectic as albums get.

Four years later after much travel, study and reinvention, Donné became ready to embark on her second album. “It was an act of rebellion. By honing in on one idea, one sound, one voice, I was rebelling against the eclecticism of the underground I came from. But I wanted it to scream at you, be raw and vulnerable. I was studying jazz at the Sydney Conservatorium at the time and this album is just as much a rebellion against musical rigidity, against thinking so much about the notes all feeling gets lost.” The result is an experience of raw expression and the creation of a new genre. Her voice is from another era; she takes old-soul and gives it a shadow. The genre is noir soul and Donné is its first lady.