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If Tori Zietsch wasn\u2019t a musician, she\u2019s pretty certain she\u2019d be a gardener. \u201cI\u2019d be growing lots of veggies, and planting heaps of flowers for the bees, and getting all my clothes and face and hands really dirty.\u201d she tells Audiofemme<\/em>. As fate would have it, Zietsch became an accomplished folk musician instead, performing under the moniker Maple Glider. Hailing from the sunny shores of Naarm\/Melbourne, her debut album, To Enjoy Is The Only Thing<\/em>, tells stories of love, loss and growth to a backdrop of delicate acoustics and unapologetic lyricism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Growing up in a religious family, Zietsch found herself reaching for her pen and paper to escape into a world of lyricism and poetry. \u201cMusic offered an escape from the reality of what life was for me at that time. I spent a lot of time making up songs as a kid and I\u2019d then lock myself in the bathroom for hours to get that good reverb! It drove my parents wild,\u201d Zietsch remembers. \u00a0\u201cSongwriting is a skill I taught myself to self-soothe. Music just always made me feel really good. It took a long time before I even realised I\u2019d spent a large portion of my life pursuing it as a career. I\u2019ve just always felt compelled to be writing and performing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n To Enjoy is the Only Thing <\/em>is fuelled by self-reflection and inspired by a time when Zietsch took a break from music, moving to Brighton in the UK, and the period of time that followed. \u201cIn 2018 I decided to take a break from working on music, which was actually the first time since I\u2019d started. Coming out of a relationship, reflecting on my religious upbringing, familial relationships, travel, and what it felt like to come home. The themes are pretty broad, but I feel very connected to the songs as a body,\u201d she explains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The album is out June 25th via Partisan Records and Maple Glider has shared a handful of singles so far as she gears up for the release. This includes hushed album opener “As Tradition<\/a>,” in which Zietsch repeats the lyrics “love is just a word;” there\u2019s a sense that by using it as a mantra she’s fastening herself to the belief as a method of protection, even as she offers a malleable persona up to listeners (“I can be soft\/I can be just what you want”).<\/p>\n\n\n\n