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ALEX THE ASTRONAUT
announces
sophomore album
HOW TO GROW A
SUNFLOWER UNDERWATER

+ Releases new single
‘OCTOPUS’ 
with animated video

Watch the ‘Octopus’ video here
Stream ‘Octopus’ here

Pre-order How to Grow A Sunflower Underwater here

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Credit: Jamie Heath

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“[Alex the Astronaut] is so adept at writing pop songs that capture the rush of young love, friendship, confusion, sadness and all those messy situations that dominate your early 20s” – The Guardian

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Singer, songwriter and storyteller ALEX THE ASTRONAUT is thrilled to announce her sophomore album How to Grow A Sunflower Underwater will be out July 22, 2022 via Warner Music Australia. Featuring the acclaimed singles ‘Growing Up’, ‘Airport’ and new single ‘Octopus’, How to Grow A Sunflower Underwater is an intimate exploration of post-traumatic growth, and a body of work affirming Alex as a truly essential songwriter, capable of transforming the way we view ourselves and the world around us. The album comes with the release of the vividly heartfelt new single ‘Octopus’, and a heart-meltingly warm animated video that captures a journey of self-discovery that reflects Alex the Astronaut’s recent Autism Spectrum Disorder diagnosis.

A gloriously anthemic track, ‘Octopus’ opens on a burst of bubble effects meant to mimic the aural sensation of Alex’s snorkeling expeditions, an activity she took on during the Sydney lockdowns. Capturing her trademark ability to merge the playful with the profound, ‘Octopus’ doubles down to explore a jarring shift in self-perception brought on by Alex’s recent Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) diagnosis. (“I think I’m like an octopus sometimes/Trying so hard to blend in”). Directed & animated by Bianca Bosso & Sam Murphy at Interns Creative, the video for ‘Octopus’ tells this story through an octopus, who is followed throughout the video as they navigate the highs and lows of getting through high school.

On ‘Octopus’, Alex the Astronaut shares, “A group of octopus can be called octopuses, octopi, or octopods. I like octopods the best. Octopods can change colour to blend in with their surroundings, regrow limbs, and decorate their houses with shells. They are amazing geniuses that live amongst us. Growing up we learn that only people that show a certain set of skills can be called clever, or valuable to society. When I was diagnosed with ASD last year I was worried people would look at me funny and think that I don’t fit when they found out, which they do sometimes but I learnt that we all have a different set of superpowers, like our friends the octopods. All of us need a little help from our friends sometimes and all of us have a superpower that could help the world grow. If we stopped worrying about how much everyone does or doesn’t fit I think we’d all be braver, more curious and much kinder.”

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Two years on from the release of her critically acclaimed ARIA-nominated debut album The Theory Of Absolutely Nothing (2020), How to Grow A Sunflower Underwater documents both the seemingly mundane (a haircut, a therapy session, a trip to the beach and the supermarket) and utterly life-changing moments (her experience as a caretaker and the PTSD that followed, her recent ASD diagnosis) imbuing her songs with equal parts awareness and sensitivity, imagination and idiosyncratic humor. Reinforcing Alex the Astronaut’s graceful ability to merge the playful with the profound, How to Grow A Sunflower Underwater taps into new vulnerabilities for Alex as she documents the complexities of life, her strength as a songwriter magnified by her sense of empathy and embracing a new level of emotional transparency.

On How to Grow A Sunflower Underwater, Alex the Astronaut shares, “I’d written a couple songs that were far more vulnerable than anything I’d done before, and I started to see that I needed to keep being that vulnerable if I wanted to make something that contributed to the world. I like to write songs that have a purpose to them—so even if it felt uncomfortable sometimes I had to tell myself, ‘Let’s just keep swimming.’”

An unforgettably original lyricist, Alex embeds How to Grow A Sunflower Underwater with references to Peter Pan and Paul Simon, “Real Housewives” and Jack the Ripper, endlessly striking a delicate balance between forthright and impressionistic (from ‘To Be Something Good’: “I try stay off my phone, I think it hurts me/A million drops of pain in light and sound”). Mixed by Miro Mackie (St. Vincent, Dirty Projectors) and produced by Alex the Astronaut with Sam Cromack, Daniel Hanson, and Dean Hanson of Brisbane band Ball Park Music, How to Grow A Sunflower Underwater brings her intensely personal storytelling to a kaleidoscopic form of folk/indie-pop. Alex the Astronaut hopes with the release of How to Grow A Sunflower Underwater, her self-reflection might inspire listeners to open up and re-examine how they connect with others.

With over 25 million streams and over 2 million views on her music videos under her belt along with adoring media fans at The New York Times, NPR, BBC Radio 1, triple j, The Guardian and The Line of Best Fit, Alex the Astronaut has captured hearts and fans around the globe. Her single ‘Growing Up’ soundtracked Season 2 of the Stan Original Series Bump, was #16 most played on triple j and together with ‘Airport’ received Song of the Day and Best Track of the Week status across Rolling Stone, Something You Said, Music Feeds, The AU Review and more. Alex the Astronaut has released two acclaimed EPs, To Whom It May Concern (2017) and See You Soon (2017), and her critically acclaimed, ARIA nominated debut album The Theory of Absolutely Nothing (2020), which was named “a work of genius” by NME and included as an Honourable Mention in Rolling Stone’s Top 200 Australian Albums of All Time.

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Alex the Astronaut new single ‘Octopus’ 
out now through Warner Music Australia
Stream / buy here

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ALEX THE ASTRONAUT
How to Grow A Sunflower Underwater
out July 22, 2022
via Warner Music Australia 

Pre-order here

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How to Grow A Sunflower
Underwater track list:

Growing Up
Haunted
Octopus
Airport
Sick
South London
Ride My Bike
To Be Something Good
Northern Lights
Haircut

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Follow ALEX THE ASTRONAUT
Website – Facebook – Twitter  Instagram

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AMNPLIFY – ML