A.J. Betts, One Song, Pan Macmillan Australia, July 2023, 400 pp., RRP $19.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781761264900
Perfectionist singer and songwriter Eva has entered the Triple J Unearthed High contest three years running, with dreams of launching her career in the music industry. Three years in a row, she’s failed to get even a rejection email, and she’s not going to put herself through that again, until Cooper, her friend and crush, talks her into taking this one last chance to enter the competition and helps her round up a band to make it happen.
With only one weekend left to rehearse and record Eva’s song, Eva’s trying to wrangle a set of personalities that couldn’t be more different. And in the space of one intense weekend, Eva and her band have to somehow produce a song to make the judges of Triple J Unearthed High stop in their tracks.
This is going to resonate with readers from 14 and up who are keen on music and performance, and particularly if they’re going through the highs and lows of their final years of secondary school. This is also one for anyone who knows the rollercoaster of the creative process, whether it’s writing, art or songwriting.
A lot can happen in a matter of hours, and in One Song, A.J. Betts has compressed not only the time frame but the space it happens in to great effect. The Breakfast Club was a comparison that leapt to mind, and this is a story that should appeal to anyone who enjoyed that movie. The five characters all agree that no one can leave the studio at Cooper’s house until the song is done, and Betts uses the restricted time and space to bring the very different personalities together, and into conflict under pressure. And, of course, Eva is left re-evaluating everything she thought she knew about her bandmates and herself by the time the weekend is done.
The suggestion of a ‘lock-in’ leads into touching lightly on the impact the covid lockdowns had on the characters, and the compressed space and time pressures as the clock counts down to the competition deadline bring up issues of panic attacks, and depression and anxiety, as well as medication for those conditions. There is some underage drinking in the book, and a certain measure of romantic tension that never resolves into anything more physical than kissing. All of this is dealt with with a fairly light touch.
Equally sympathetic is the way Betts writes about Eva dealing with the unexpected onset of her period just after they’ve all agreed to not leave the studio. Eva really does have a lot going on over the whole weekend.
Eva feels like a very believable and sympathetic character as her control over the songwriting process is challenged and she has to come to terms with what that means. Eva manages her anxiety with schedules and plans, but one of the central themes at the heart of One Song is the risk and reward of imperfection, and Eva has to face the idea that chasing perfection may have been holding her back. Working with four other people on this song may destroy her chances of winning the competition, or the whole messy collaboration may be the best thing that’s ever happened to her and her music.
The very different faces of friendship and support that she gets out of this intense handful of hours give a lightness and delight, with touches of humour, to Eva’s story. I loved being caught up in the dramas and joys of trying to bring this song to life, and finished One Song with a smile on my face. I hope other readers will too.
Reviewed by Emily Clarke
