Townsville singer-songwriter, Colie, recently released a new single called Slowing Down, although her musical career shows no sign of it!
The idea for the song was prompted by a significant birthday.
“I turned 30 this year and I guess getting older, leaving my twenties, you realise that life is probably going to be pretty different from here on in,” says Colie.
“You start thinking about kids and settling down and having a home, those sorts of things.
“The song is about growing up and moving into a different phase of life where things do start to slow down. My priorities have changed now… wanting to be home with your partner, rather than going out, that sort of thing. It’s kind of a love song. I don’t write too many of those,” she laughs.
Debut album launch
Slowing Down is the first single from Colie’s debut LP The End of the World, due for release on 15 November.
Colie said many of the album’s songs are drawn from moments in her life.
“I’ve got songs on there about when I was really little, when I was in high school, my uni days… songs from all different phases of my life… whereas Slowing Down is now. How I am now. So the album is very autobiographical and not how I’ve written in the past,” she says.
“I tend to write about other people, or things that are going on in other people’s lives but this album’s really raw and was kinda scary for me to decide to release. I’m singing about things I’ve never really spoken to a lot of people about, different challenges I’ve had. It will be ‘big’ for me to release this album, personally. It’s kinda scary but therapeutic too,” she says.
While Colie has released a number of singles and EPs over the years, she’s always wanted to release a larger body of work.
“Usually an album has to be at least 30 minutes long or more than eight songs. My album is eight songs so we just snuck into the album territory,” she laughs.
Finding Mr Wright!
The End of the World is doubly personal because Colie co-created it with her partner, Sam Wright.
“Sam produced the whole album but he also played every single instrument on the album and did all the backing vocals. He also co-wrote a lot of the songs with me. I’d written all the songs but in the studio we kind of tore them apart and tweaked them, rewriting sections. So, Sam is a huge part of the album. I can’t take all the credit,” she smiles.
“It was such a nice experience and Sam asked me to marry him in the studio while we were recording! He didn’t plan it, it just came over him, so we were obviously working well together,” she laughs.
Neck of the Woods
Colie and Sam are the creators and organisers of Neck of the Woods; a unique and boutique, annual, local music festival, though you will not find Colie performing there.
“I find it impossible to switch between event mode and creative performer mode,” she says.
“I have decided that Neck of the Woods is not a place for me to perform because I’m not relaxed enough. I’m sweaty from running around and covered in dust, usually with a clipboard in my hand. It’s not conducive to then switching to ‘Colie’ mode.
“But hopefully I’ll have some shows coming up after the album comes out.”
This article was supported by the Regional Arts Development Fund (RADF). RADF is a partnership between the Queensland Government and the Townsville City Council to support local arts and culture in regional Queensland.
