DEAD HEART is a collection of extremely raw and honest songs. Talk us through the whole creative process of creating this body of work.

A lot of these songs came from a super honest and vulnerable place. Three of the tracks (the girl i love, am i even on ur mind? & aftermath) came on a four-day trip to Sydney in 2023. These sessions began with a personal deep dive/DnM/therapy-type conversation with the writers/producers (all of which I was meeting for the first time) and often a line or a melody would come out amidst this process.

In the case of bleed for u, I began writing this song when I was 16, waiting for a train home from school. I went home and put a melody to the lyrics and a guitar part. Months later, Jon Hume reached out over social media. I showed him the song and we worked on it together via Zoom in the midst of the pandemic and lockdowns. I then finished writing it with my Mum and produced it with my Dad in his studio.

For dead heart, I wrote most of the chorus while I was driving—ideas often flow really freely here when I’m in songwriting mode. I had a really strong urge to finish it over the next few days, but it was the first song I had ever written start to finish without external feedback, which was an interesting exercise in self-critique, persistence and belief. It was certainly a challenge, but I finished it over the next couple of days just sitting at the piano and working it all out.

Who were you listening to while creating this EP?

I started writing bleed for u in 2019 and finished it in 2024, so my listening has changed a lot throughout that time. I would say my biggest influences for the record were Hozier, Dermot Kennedy, Finneas and Radiohead, though I was also inspired by some earlier Ed Sheeran works too.

If people are listening to your music for the first time, what do you hope they take away from your songs?

The songs from this EP are often deeply personal stories from either my own life or people I am very close to. I hope that these songs make people feel less alone and more self-accepting. Sometimes all you need is someone that can relate to what you’re going through, particularly if you struggle to articulate how you’re really feeling.

Tell us about the EP artwork. Why the anatomical heart?

The artwork is inspired by Leonardo da Vinci’s anatomical drawings. When writing the song dead heart, I was in the middle of a heart study at university and we had just done dissections, and I was marvelling at its design. As an organ, the heart is structurally and functionally complex but is fairly understood physiologically. Emotionally, however, it is ever-changing, waxing and waning in whichever direction it may choose. Something had really shook me at that time, and I guess this song was the clinical embodiment of that emotional complexity that I was struggling to understand.

What’s your dream venue to play?

I think currently my dream venue is to play Rod Laver. I’ve always wanted to play to a big home crowd.

What’s the next 12 months looking like for you?

The 12 months to come are full of writing, new shows and the best music I’ve ever written, and I can’t wait to share it with you!