Maggie Tra releases ‘Dancing Untethered,’ her third album that is set to shine a light on immigration, displacement and crossing borders.
This heart-warming 13-track electronic dance album showcases Tra’s journey as an Australian born Khmer/Vietnamese artist. It’s about finding her place in so-called-Australia, how she built her own community and lane in order to be seen and heard through music.
Unapologetic, authentic, and full of emotion are the three words that come to mind when hitting play on this gripping dance album. Tra uses Techno, House, Electronic dance music to spread awareness of how strong music is through-out cultures. Within every rhythm and beat no matter the genre, carries the journey of her younger self, to the artist she has become now bringing forth Cambodian and Vietnamese music culture into electronic dance music.
Emphasising her disadvantages that society has deemed as ‘setbacks,’ only made Tra’s journey into the music industry a story worth telling. From having immigrant parents, to choosing a life with music, although her own journey is unique, Tra recognises she is not alone.
“I know a lot of Asian diasporas feel similar to me, a sense of not really belonging where your parents are from, to where you are born. Music has allowed me to explore these spaces, and also connect me to people who feel exactly the same way,”
“‘Dancing Untethered’ is about my younger and adult conscious aligning, and creating this masterpiece that is just me, imperfect, crossing borders, connecting generations and just finding my place in this world where I am not 100% whatever nationality or what people want me to be,”
The artist has never held back from the way she sees it and she’s not about to let up here, with a litany of identity and resilience – both historic and recent which is explored on much of her music and her upcoming album.
Tra’s career has been on the rise in recent years starting with her debut EP ‘U.L.A’ in 2021, her debut album ‘Kingdom of Her’ in 2022 and 2nd album ‘Very Vui’ in 2023. With music as her home, Maggie is also the founder of Hà Nội Community Radio and music label & collective SYS Sister Sounds which aims to release music from Asian female and non-binary music producers. Her persistence to fight for equality and to provide a platform for emerging Asian artists’ stand with the time is unsurpassed.
A weaver of musical fibres, Tra’s creations entwine melody, genres and tempos to create her own tapestries.
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