Nine years after releasing her brilliant debut, Ecca Vandal has returned with an album made from creative isolation, discarded expectations and, most importantly, a determination to make music entirely on her own terms. The result is a thrilling collision of sounds that makes a compelling case for trusting your instincts.

Ecca Vandal:

LOOKING FOR PEOPLE TO UNFOLLOW

A Waxx Lyrical Deep Dive into the album that took nine years to make and a lifetime of musical boundaries to break.

Nine years is a mighty long time between albums when you're hot. Ecca Vandal's self-titled debut suggested she was well on her way to becoming one of Australia's most exciting alternative voices. She arrived with a huge range of musical influences and seemingly little interest in keeping them separate. Punk and hip-hop fused with electronics and alternative rock to create songs that were unpredictable and exhilarating, driven by a vocalist capable of moving between melodic precision and full-throated aggression. It was an introduction that promised a fascinating future, but the years that followed would take her somewhere few could have anticipated.

Born in the small South African town of Louis Trichardt to Sri Lankan Tamil parents, Vandal spent her earliest years under apartheid. Her family eventually left the country's political and racial turmoil behind, settling in Melbourne in the early 1990s, where relatives had already established themselves.

Music was central to her family life long before she contemplated pursuing it professionally. Her earliest memories include relatives gathering to sing, sometimes spontaneously breaking into elaborate harmonies, while gospel, soul, R&B and the musical traditions of both South Africa and Sri Lanka filled the household. Her older sisters introduced further influences through their record collections, adding another dimension to an already rich musical upbringing.

Vandal taught herself piano before undertaking eight years of classical violin training, eventually developing a fascination with jazz and the freedom it offered for improvisation. Although her parents envisaged a more conventional professional future, a school music teacher encouraged her to audition for the Victorian College of the Arts. She did so without initially telling her family and secured a place studying jazz. It was an education that broadened her musical tastes considerably and taught her to improvise, a skill that would prove particularly useful when she began developing her own sound.

That musical education was blown wide open when fellow students introduced her to alternative rock, punk and experimental music. Radiohead, Fugazi, Pixies, Björk and the wonderfully weird Mr. Bungle opened up possibilities that her formal training had barely touched. Where jazz had encouraged technical exploration, punk offered something altogether more immediate: the freedom to be confrontational, imperfect and entirely unconcerned with traditional expectations of musical excellence.

Working with producer Richie 'Kidnot' Buxton, she released her debut single, the show-stopping 'White Flag', in 2014, followed by the End of Time EP in 2016. She was immediately a force, a voice and sound that cut through the crap on the radio, with an enviable street cool that simply can't be imitated. Her live performances soon attracted attention, earning support slots with Gang of Youths, Birds of Tokyo and The Prodigy. Remarkably, her appearance with the latter at Sydney's Luna Park was only her third gig. Festival appearances at Groovin the Moo, Hyperfest and Splendour in the Grass followed. Clearly, Ecca Vandal wasn't going to remain Australia's best-kept secret for long.

By October 2017, Vandal had built considerable anticipation for her self-titled debut album, and she didn't disappoint. Featuring contributions from rapper Sampa the Great, Refused frontman Dennis Lyxzén and letlive. vocalist Jason Aalon Butler, the record was met with enthusiastic reviews. NME called it "one of the year's brightest debuts", while The Music praised its adventurous songwriting and musical variety. triple j made it a Feature Album, back when that would practically guarantee a swiftly-swelling audience. After several years of gathering momentum, she finally had a full-length record to her name, and the attention was thoroughly deserved.

There was plenty happening beyond the studio, too. Supporting Queens of the Stone Age in Australia and Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes in the UK, along with appearances at Download and Reading & Leeds, gave Vandal an increasingly international audience.

THE LONG ROAD BACK

Following her debut, Vandal and Buxton travelled to Los Angeles to work with established songwriters and producers. The experience introduced them to a very different approach to making music. Sessions would begin with the pair being played a handful of familiar songs and asked to produce something similar, usually as quickly as possible. “It was all very surface-level and formulaic. I was just bored by it,” she later told NME.

Rather than release an album she couldn't fully endorse, Vandal shelved the material and headed home. It was a consequential decision. The music industry sure isn't renowned for rewarding artists who walk away from golden opportunities, particularly when those opportunities promise access to much larger audiences. Vandal had also grown weary of the advice to narrow her musical identity and the pressure to remain visible, produce commercially accessible material and maintain a steady stream of online content. Somewhere in all those expectations, the pleasure of making music was getting lost.

Then came the pandemic! But rather than bringing her creative ambitions to a halt, it offered Vandal an unexpected opportunity to reconsider her priorities. With touring suspended and the usual demands of the music industry temporarily on hold, she and Buxton retreated into a much smaller creative world: a makeshift studio in Buxton's childhood bedroom in bayside Melbourne. Here, the pair took complete control of the recording and production process, working together on everything from the earliest musical ideas to the finished arrangements, without outside collaborators or the restraints that had frustrated their earlier attempts at recording a second album.

The isolation proved liberating. With an unreliable internet connection and little contact with the outside music industry, Vandal and Buxton spent the next two years experimenting, often following ideas simply to see where they might lead. There was room for wrong turns, happy accidents and songs that didn't necessarily resemble anything they'd recorded before. It also allowed Vandal to withdraw from the increasingly demanding online culture surrounding contemporary music, where artists were expected to become content creators, churn out TikTok videos and continually promote themselves to remain visible. She wanted to make an album that rewarded sustained attention, at a time when much of the industry seemed more interested in capturing only 15 seconds of it at a time. Somewhere along the way, she and Buxton rediscovered the simple pleasure of making music together.

Her return began in August 2024 with 'BLEED BUT NEVER DIE', a furious, exhilarating reminder of what we'd been missing, delivered in under three minutes and accompanied by striking new imagery. It was unmistakably Ecca, although there was a new confidence and intensity about her. 'THEN THERE'S ONE' followed later that year, with distinct South Asian musical and rhythmic nuances and wrapping the whole thing up in under 80 seconds. These were becoming hefty teasers indeed.

But it was 'CRUISING TO SELF SOOTHE', written in London prior to the sessions, that struck the loudest chord. A simple drum hit and an almighty scream from Vandal suddenly saturated our Instagram feeds. Beautifully ironic, given that this was the very place she and Buxton had spent years trying to avoid. The imagery was strangely addictive: just the two of them performing in a kitchen, with Ecca throwing herself into the song as though the intervening years had never happened. She was properly back, and quite possibly better than ever. The perfect follow-up, 'MOLLY', came next, with further singles gradually revealing more of what she'd been working on. How these wildly different songs might work together on an album remained anyone's guess.

When LOOKING FOR PEOPLE TO UNFOLLOW finally arrived in May 2026, we had our answer.

THE POWER OF THE ALBUM. EMPHASIS ON “ALBUM”

LOOKING FOR PEOPLE TO UNFOLLOW is a jaw-dropping sum of its parts. Clocking in at forty-two minutes, its seventeen tracks are packed with relentless killer moments, but even the finest of them can't quite match the experience of hearing the album in its entirety. While that sounds like something someone who runs a record club might preach, this is a record that demands to be played in full if ever there was one.

The meditative 'AIRPLANE MODE' gives way to 'EYES SHUT', a somewhat polarising opening perhaps, but the moment the anxious, chopped guitar of 'SORRY! CRASH!' kicks in, things reach another level entirely. The contrasts can be jarring, but that's part of the thrill. How Vandal and Buxton manage to anchor the album in hardcore punk and alternative rock while moving through hip-hop, trip-hop, dub, electronic music, R&B and moments of spacious melody is nothing short of genius.

For all the musical ground covered, Vandal's voice remains the unmistakable constant. She can move from a ferocious scream to a delicate melody, slip into a rap or deliver a lyric almost conversationally, often changing approach several times within the same song. The shorter tracks are equally important to the album's momentum. 'AIRPLANE MODE', the title track and 'DANCE IN DEBT' barely trouble the one-minute mark, but their placement gives the longer songs room to breathe and occasionally catches us completely off guard. It's these decisions, as much as the individual performances, that make the album such an extraordinary listen.

ECCA VANDAL, LOOKING FOR PEOPLE TO UNFOLLOW TRACK BY TRACK

01. 'AIRPLANE MODE'

A brief atmospheric introduction, its title immediately establishing the language of disconnection that runs throughout the record. At just 44 seconds, 'AIRPLANE MODE' is less a conventional song than a threshold, inviting listeners into a world that operates according to its own rules. Its placement is particularly effective because it offers only a fleeting opportunity to settle before the music takes a much more aggressive turn.

02. 'EYES SHUT'

Any sense of calm disappears with 'EYES SHUT', a ferocious introduction to the heavier side of Vandal's musical personality. Distorted guitars, relentless percussion and an uncompromising vocal performance combine to produce one of the album's most immediate confrontations. The song takes aim at those who profit from war and unrest while innocent people suffer, giving its fury a political purpose beyond the sheer physical force of the music.

03. 'SORRY! CRASH!'

'SORRY! CRASH!' maintains the intensity while introducing a stronger melodic dimension, bringing hardcore aggression into contact with the emotional immediacy of alternative rock and emo. Vandal moves between forceful vocal passages and more expansive melodies, allowing frustration and vulnerability to occupy the same space. The shifts are abrupt but remarkably effective, demonstrating an artist who understands that intensity can take several forms. By the end, the album has already established a fascinating balance between musical confrontation and emotional accessibility.

04. 'VERTICAL WORLDS'

The intensity keeps building as 'VERTICAL WORLDS' arrives with muscular guitars, a driving rhythm and another commanding performance from Vandal. It's an immediate, punchy burst of alternative rock with enough punk attitude to keep things interesting, and a hook that makes it one of the album's more accessible moments. In many ways, it's the perfect radio single for someone as perfectly unconvential as Ecca Vandal.

Watch official video

05. 'BLEED BUT NEVER DIE'

The song that announced Vandal's return in 2024 remains one of the album's most forceful moments. 'BLEED BUT NEVER DIE' is rhythmically insistent, drawing on the physical intensity of hardcore punk while challenging expectations around feminine expression and the body. Vandal sounds utterly committed to every syllable, with the song's directness giving its message considerable power. Heard in the context of the full album, it feels less like an isolated comeback single and more like a declaration of the artistic independence that defines the entire project. And its transition from 'VERTICAL WORLDS'? <chef's kiss>

Watch official video

06. 'CRUISING TO SELF SOOTHE'

That almighty opening scream gives way to one of the album's most infectious grooves, with a commanding call to attention and a distinct air of defiance. 'CRUISING TO SELF SOOTHE' is heavy, ridiculously catchy and bursting with personality, finding an unlikely sense of joy in the messy business of managing your own thoughts and emotions. There's humour in the delivery, a wonderful swagger to the rhythm and a melody that refuses to leave your head. It's the sort of song that makes you want to turn the volume up another notch, even when it's already far too loud.

Watch official video

07. 'MOLLY'

'MOLLY' is one of the album's finest moments, and quite possibly its most astonishing vocal performance. It begins with the urgency of a punk record, abrasive vocals and forceful rhythms driving the song forward, before gradually opening into something far more expansive. Seriously, how does Vandal walk that line between pure punk aggression and moments of utter beauty? Her voice changes character throughout, sometimes within a few bars, before the whole thing gives way to a gorgeous, almost cinematic piano-led conclusion. At more than four minutes, there's room for the song to stretch and evolve, and it's all the better for it. The accompanying video is every bit as captivating. One of the best here.

Watch official video

08. 'OKAY NOT TO BE OKAY'

Perhaps the album's most abrupt change of direction so far, softened rather cleverly by the gentle ending of 'MOLLY'. 'OKAY NOT TO BE OKAY' swaps the distorted guitars for woozy synths, a skittering beat and a considerably more delicate vocal from Vandal. There's a dreamy, almost weightless quality to the song, although an underlying restlessness remains. It's a lovely little moment of vulnerability after the intensity of the preceding tracks, and another example of how beautifully this album is sequenced.

09. 'LEVITATE PART 1 + 2'

Another unexpected turn, and honestly, the album's impressiveness is becoming ridiculous at this point. It swaps punk guitars for atmospheric synthesisers, dub-influenced rhythms and a gorgeous wash of R&B. Vandal sounds almost weightless in places, her softer vocals floating across the electronics before the two-part arrangement takes the song somewhere else again. It's a wonderfully immersive piece of music that soothes before the album's second half, and by this point, trying to anticipate what might come next feels like a fool's errand.

10. 'LOOKING FOR PEOPLE TO UNFOLLOW'

At just forty seconds, the title track offers something of a reset before the album moves into a run of shorter, more beat-driven songs that flow together almost like a medley. It's a curious little interlude, giving us a moment to gather ourselves before the next stretch begins.

11. 'THEN THERE'S ONE'

'THEN THERE'S ONE' continues the record's exploration of rhythm and atmosphere, drawing on dub and trip-hop while allowing Vandal's South Asian musical heritage to enter the conversation. Its brief duration makes the song feel almost like a transmission from another part of the album's musical universe. Yet rather than functioning as a disconnected experiment, it establishes a natural bridge into the material that follows. This willingness to make room for contrasting influences is one of the qualities that distinguishes the record from more conventional alternative releases. Watch official video

12. 'BLEACH'

This brings punk and hip-hop crashing together, with Vandal's rhythmic vocal delivery riding a filthy groove punctuated by bursts of distorted guitar. There's a swagger to the whole thing, even as the arrangement becomes increasingly abrasive, and she sounds completely at home in the middle of it all. How can one person be so fucking cool?!

Watch official video

13. 'DID A LITTLE MORE TO FORGET'

A little nod to Vandal's jazz background, perhaps? 'DID A LITTLE MORE TO FORGET' introduces piano and a laid-back hip-hop groove that feels wonderfully relaxed after the preceding tracks. At just fifty-four seconds, it's over almost before we've had a chance to settle in, which is a shame because there's plenty to enjoy here. Another little gem that makes you appreciate the thought behind this album's sequencing.

14. 'DO IT ANYWAY'

A reggaeton-flavoured beat is now in the mix, and it's an absolute blast. There's a playful defiance running through the song, with Vandal acknowledging her bad habits and occasional poor decisions while seemingly having a wonderful time making them. The central message is wonderfully human: we spend so much time overthinking what we should and shouldn't do that sometimes it's worth throwing caution to the wind and enjoying ourselves. Three minutes of infectious, danceable fun, and another reminder that Ecca Vandal is impossible to second-guess.

15. 'DANCE IN DEBT'

Thirty-three seconds of concentrated punk energy provide another sudden interruption. 'DANCE IN DEBT' is brief, abrasive and entirely uninterested in overstaying its welcome, recalling the compressed aggression of hardcore's earliest recordings. Its placement is especially effective after the more dance-oriented 'DO IT ANYWAY', delivering a rapid jolt before the album turns towards its final two substantial compositions. It is precisely the kind of fragment that might appear inconsequential in isolation but becomes essential within the record's wider design.

16. 'GHOSTS'

'GHOSTS' brings some serious political weight to the album's closing stretch. Written in response to the performative displays of solidarity that followed George Floyd's murder and the renewed attention surrounding Black Lives Matter, the song confronts hypocrisy, racism and the persistence of colonial attitudes. Against a heavy, hip-hop-influenced beat, Vandal delivers one of her most pointed performances. There's real anger here, and understandably so, particularly when the public declarations of change so often fail to produce much of it.

17. 'CAME HERE FOR THE LOOT'

And what a way to finish. 'CAME HERE FOR THE LOOT' begins with a menacing trap beat and Vandal delivering her lines with extraordinary swagger, before the arrangement takes one final, glorious detour. The beat switch is quite something, giving way to a soulful, melodic closing passage that feels worlds away from the song's opening bars. Even at the very end, Ecca has another surprise up her sleeve.

WHY WE CHOSE IT

Choosing a Record of the Month that satisfies everyone isn't easy. In fact, it's impossible, and this one attracted more swaps than we've seen in a long time. Never before have we pitied the swappers quite so much. But our aim has always been to reward curiosity, encourage active listening and introduce members to records they might never have discovered otherwise. By that measure, LOOKING FOR PEOPLE TO UNFOLLOW is just about the perfect Record of the Month for 2026.

There's something particularly satisfying about choosing an album that asks listeners to venture beyond their usual tastes. Ecca has made a record that deserves a much wider audience, along with the patience and open mind to appreciate it, and we'd much rather take a chance on something this exciting than play it safe with a selection everyone already knows. We understand why some members swapped it. We just hope they'll give it a listen somewhere down the line, because otherwise they risk missing one of the most significant album releases of 2026.

Ecca Vandal is gloriously uncategorisable. We've spent this entire Deep Dive exploring the extraordinary range of influences, styles and sounds that have shaped her music, but none comes close to adequately describing what she creates. You can hear traces of Björk, M.I.A., Santigold, Refused, Faith No More and countless others, but the comparisons only get you so far. Ultimately, Ecca sounds like Ecca, and that's perhaps the greatest compliment we can pay her.

TL;DR

Nine years. Seventeen tracks. One hell of an album.

Uncategorisable. That's the word.

And the Australian spelling for Waxx Lyrical.

Stream the whole album