Stella Donnelly will release her new album Flood on August 26 through Secretly Canadian. The album was written as the songwriter hopped around towns in Australia, observing life – both human and animal. Of the new album, she says:
“I do love observing human dynamics. Dynamics between old best friends, or dynamics between housemates, or a relationship where the two people are broken up and haven’t spoken in years. I like getting into the mind of someone who we’ve all been at some point.”
To that point, she’s also shared the album’s opening track “Lungs”. While its plonking piano chords (Donnelly’s go-to instrument for this album) and sprightly drumming make it a perky pop song, Donnelly’s words and voice make the song a bit more complex. Her perspective is that of a child whose family has been evicted, and as her dual voice dance around each other she pleads “don’t watch us when we leave”. Yet, it’s not all doom, she manages to conjure that child-like innocence at the gravity of the situation, to make the best of a bad outcome, to find the positive. It makes “Lungs” into an unusually beguiling and addictive song.
On the video for “Lungs”, which she co-directed with Duncan Wright, Donnelly says:
“Very loosely based on the Banded Stilts of my album cover, the character I play in red is a wobbly adult, doing their best with their new set of legs and responsibilities, trying to make it look easy but very much on unsteady ground. I wanted this video to celebrate the child, firm in their footholds, intimidatingly honest, not to be messed with, they are the strength and power of this video no matter how much I try to assert myself as the boss.”
Watch the video below or find “Lungs” on streaming platforms.
Stella Donnelly’s new album Flood comes out on August 26 through Secretly Canadian (pre-order/save). You can find her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
