Raised on a farm by the seaside in rural South Australia, 2020 SA Music Award-nominated (People’s Choice – Country) Cookie Baker’s trademark sparkling vocals and the poetic grit of her cool wordsmithery paint a portrait of this pint-sized melodic force to be reckoned with.

From force-feeding Christmas Day concerts to her family on the front verandah to recording with Tim Rogers (You Am I) and sharing stages with the likes of beloved Australian artists Augie March, Kate Miller-Heidke, Ben Lee, Vikki Thorn (The Waifs), Mick Thomas (Weddings, Parties, Anything) and The Audreys, Cookie’s 2019 LP, ‘This Is Not A Love Song’, is the perfect introduction to her wide range of influences and the whip-smart character of her songwriting.

Recorded in Sydney, Melbourne and San Francisco – co-produced with Michael Carpenter of Sydney’s Love Hz Studios – ‘This Is Not A Love Song’ is an exercise in compact contradiction and adaptation, swinging the pendulum dramatically from tongue-in-cheek and unapologetic country nursery-rhymes-for-adults, to sweeping indie pop heartbreakers, to introspective and sparsely decorated contemporary folk.

In a world of cheap thrills and quick pleasures, Cookie’s singularity is tantalisingly refreshing.