“They arrive in my head and I make them,” says Jack River – aka Holly Rankin - of her eclectic song-writing vision. “I always want to create a feeling that’s completely original to the song. I think in our world right now a lot of things are so homogenised and repetitive, we expect repetitiveness. I want to avoid that.” Rankin’s debut five-track EP, Highway Songs No. 2, introduces Jack River as a fully-realised songwriting talent and architect of singular design. “Palo Alto” veers from indie-rock pomp to a cascading pop chorus; “Talk Like That” pivots into psychedelic electro territory; “Dream Girl” a bubblegum pop gem. ‘Head To Stars’ evokes Rankin’s NSW surf coast upbringing as a shimmering campfire lope, before her take on Cigarette’s After Sex’s cult lament “Nothing’s Gonna Hurt You Baby” closes. The through-line is Rankin’s voice - a sly, chameleonic instrument that projects unerring confidence. Jack River sounds no bullshit. These aren’t love songs, but just-past-love songs. “I’ve built into them an emotional resilience,” says Rankin. “Not giving a fuck. Getting through it, moving on - looking back but not giving in.’ Growing up in Forster NSW, imagination was key to a vivid adolescence. Days spent running down sand hills and exploring the bush fired her imagination. “I was overwhelmed by experiences as a kid,” says Rankin. “I started writing at a really young age. Poetry, stories, or diary entries. As soon as I felt something stranger than normality, I wrote about it.”