Unicorn have been making beautiful grungy pop-rock waves in the Perth music scene since they formed in 2021. Fronted by singer-songwriter phenomenon Jenna Hardie, with Jack Charles on lead guitar, Sara McPherson on bass and Lochlan Hoffman on drums.
2025 is proving to be a big year for Unicorn with their latest release Spirals released early March receiving an incredible response so far, and with more to come. Stephanie Jewell sat down with Jenna for an in depth chat to talk about Spirals.
Steph: Jenna, thank you for coming to chat with me today at Picabar! Firstly, how would you describe Unicorn’s sound and musical influence, for anyone reading this who may not have heard of you before?
Jenna: I would say a mix of grunge pop, is what I would like to describe it as. We definitely have that grungy element, but there’s sort of that theatrical cabaret part to it as well. I think I have been influenced heavily by retro bands, such as Silverchair, Garbage, and Veruca
Salt. I went and saw a Veruca Salt concert when I was 19 and they pulled me up on stage and I was so excited that the next day I went and bought a guitar. And then like 15 years later I went and saw them at the Rosemount, I hadn’t been playing music for seven years. They handed me a flower from the stage, and I was inspired to start a new band.
Steph: How did Unicorn come to be and how does it work so well?
Jenna: I have had a couple of bands that I’ve been the singer-songwriter for, like The Government and then Gold Suns. I have played in a couple of other bands too, on bass, for Filth Wizard, and I really wanted to get back into sharing songs that I’d written. I formed Unicorn with Jess Harris, Doug May and Ellis Munro initially. The band has now done a complete changeover of musicians. We now have Jack Charles, Lochy Hoffman and Sara McPherson.
But because it’s sort of changed over time, we don’t feel like we’ve lost any of the intent of the sound or the vibe that we’ve got going on. For me, Unicorn is really important to have a really good group of people that you want to hang out with, because you end up spending a lot of time with them. It’s a lovely group; we don’t have any ego. We come and work on the songs together, band members suggest different changes and we work on things and yeah, it’s great to have everyone’s input. And sometimes that push and pull dynamic to get actually a better result is good too.
Steph: Please tell me about your latest single, Spirals?
Jenna: Spirals was written around 10 years ago. It is a song about falling in love, and that fear and vulnerability that you feel when you do fall in love. I think it is always relevant, in terms of people’s feelings and that sort of thing. Some of my favourite lyrics are ‘your face is in my face’ and ‘your heart is in my veins’. So romantic!
I think when falling in love, it’s a reminder of those fears and vulnerabilities that come up. I like how Jack Charles, our guitarist, describes it as ‘the good, the bad and the ugly of falling in love’. I brought the song to the band when we formed in 2021, and it’s actually been a firm favourite on the set list for the entire time. It really is one of the songs that we all really just keep loving. When we went into the studio with Dave Parkin (Karnivool, Spacey Jane), we used a reference track of Joy Division, and I think he’s really captured that. A lot of the feedback recently has been that it has got a really retro vibe. Honestly, that retro vibe is why I think I love it so much.
Steph: You recently had the Spirals single launch at Mojos, how was it received?
Jenna: Well, we had our first ever encore, which was exciting! We had such great, beautiful friends and a really fantastic lineup as well. Tanaya Harper, Gap Year and Ursula. I’d never seen Ursula or Gap Year live but absolutely loved them both. It was a really beautiful night, and we had such a good time. We had a really great night celebrating the song.
Steph: Do you feel like Spirals has a deeper meaning now compared to when it was first written?
Jenna: I don’t know that it has a different or deeper meaning. I think as an artist and creative, I feel like I have very big emotions. I think it still resonates to me in terms of that feeling at the beginning of a relationship, and hopefully it resonates with others as well. When we went into the studio, we did change a couple of things, nothing major, but added an extra chord, which I guess is a major event. And, you know, it’s always hard to change something that you have created.
But going in and working with Dave Parkin at Blackbird Sound Studio, I really value his musical intelligence and musicality. So, his suggestions, I always take on board, and really think about. I know that we have improved this song with those extra chords, and with some extra melody and lyrics that I absolutely love.
I don’t think that love changes, does it? It is one of those things that you can’t really see tangibly, but maybe you can feel it in the music?
Steph: Spirals is quite different to some of Unicorn’s other tracks with heartbreak themes, does this song mark a new direction for Unicorn?
Jenna: I guess that Unicorn explores a few different themes. There are, you know, the love songs that are broken heart songs, one song is called Bite the Dust, and another one is called Wasted Sunrise. There are also songs that are more reflective about the tyranny of time and the fact that you’ve just sort of got to go for it. We’ve got a couple of new songs that have been written recently, and they are certainly set more in the ‘hopeful love’ genre, I think. I am always experimenting with different feelings through life’s journey. So, some days you are feeling one thing, sometimes you are feeling another.
The next song we have got coming up that we are releasing later in the year is called Wonderful Wonderful. It is a very, I like to say, ‘pirate’ song because it feels watery and was written on a stormy night. But it also has elements of that love, or drowning in love, which is another part of love. It’s something to explore, I don’t have the answers. I just have the feelings.
Steph: That’s awesome! What other gigs have you got coming up where we can find you?
Jenna: We have got a gig in Bunbury on 4th April to celebrate Spirals. And then we are booking shows in June/July to celebrate Wonderful Wonderful. Keep an eye out!
Steph: That’s lovely and sounds very wonderful! Thank you for your time Jenna!
Listen to Spirals here
Check out Unicorn at The Prince of Wales in Bunbury on April 4, link to event here.
