IKSRE – “Pobblebonk” (feat. Luminem)

Today, days away from musician Phoebe Dubar aka IKSRE’s new album, III, Petal Motel is pleased to premiere “Pobblebonk,” a shimmering, effervescent song featuring Luminem. I love the texture field recordings add to a song, especially when it makes me pause my music player to make sure it is actually a bird song and not a friend outside my window. The field recordings stem from the sounds of an elusive Australian frog (from which the song gets its name) spotted by Phoebe and her daughter while they sought solace in nature while the world came to a standstill.

The sounds of nature inspired me at every step of the creative process. I’d been trying to record the elusive Pobblebonk frog for years, and finally managed to capture it late last year during lockdown. I wanted to create a song that mimicked the sound of the frog, and allowed the expansiveness of the natural world to make way for my viola, voice and synths. I invited my best friend, Luminem, to add her trademark, emotive piano as the finishing touch.

Phoebe Dubar

Phoebe wrote the album in her home of Melbourne/Naarm, Australia during the (stricter than the US) lockdowns in 2020. The album title has two meanings, the more obvious being that it’s her third album; but this record is also a deeply personal work detailing Phoebe’s processing during a heartbreaking miscarriage and coming to terms with the fact that her family of three would remain that way. As a certified sound healer, Phoebe uses the power of sound to find healing and catharsis, and this effect carries on to the listener as well.

Melbourne-based pianist Luminem adds

III is out on October 15th on Hush Hush Records. Get it on Bandcamp.