Capping off a busy 2009 for the Brisbane songstress comes ‘All You Can’, her third EP.  Initially conceived when Simmons set herself the challenge of writing a song a week for six weeks (one was eventually discarded), this latest five-track effort marks a real development in her songwriting. Opener and standout cut The Fundamentalist features nicely layered instrumentation, including some tastefully restrained banjo courtesy of the multi-talented Simmons, before the vocals build and eventually burst in an ecstatic crescendo of harmonies and staccato strings. 

All You Can veers into electronica with its playfully interacting synth and vocal lines, but it’s on the more organic numbers where the songwriting really shines.  The lilting and tender Rosemary is a soothing acoustic take on the traditional ballad with a strong coda that saves it from becoming maudlin, and the remaining two tracks are likewise enjoyable and accomplished, particularly the energetic and poppy I Cannot be Saved. 

All in all this strong and impressively tuneful release somehow manages to be lush and restrained at the same time.  Clever, catchy and neatly layered with intersecting lines of banjo and cello, Simmons heartfelt tunes will hold great appeal to fans of pared-back songwriting and delicately varied instrumentation.  A homegrown talent definitely worth keeping your eye on.