ANNIE HAMILTON
releases new single + video
‘My New Tattooed Chameleon’
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Photo – Michelle Pitiris
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Praise for ‘My New Tattooed Chameleon’
“Hamilton’s flair for gradual layering and soundscape – the structural basis for her first single ‘Fade’ – is on display here again. The mounting intensity of the verse resolves into a sublime lower-register refrain that borrows the effortless 90s swagger of The Breeders or Veruca Salt. The song is built up from a relentless buzzing guitar note that never moves off A-sharp and a brick house of a beat courtesy of Cat Hunter. Around these foundational elements fizzes Hamilton’s overdriven vocals, pristine guitar hooks and synth pads, rendering in sound the sense of nervous expectation evoked by the lyrics”. – FBi Radio
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Praise for ‘Fade’
“A slow-burner of the highest calibre, Annie Hamilton has set a high benchmark indeed on her debut single Fade.” – Happy Magazine
“It’s vulnerable and timid but it’s also a massive body and sound that tosses you in the tumble dryer with all your neurotic angst. It’s a noisy, messy scribble of emotions that builds and builds before stripping everything back to just Annie’s voice.” ~ #2 Top Song of 2018 – Sound Doctrine
“Australia’s very own faultless indie troubadour who in 3 minutes and 10 seconds will take you on a musical journey of truly remarkable scope and execution.” – Laundry Echo
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Sydney musician Annie Hamilton has followed up her critically acclaimed debut single, “Fade”, with “My New Tattooed Chameleon” and its accompanying music video, released Friday April 12 and premiered on FBi Radio.
On her second single “My New Tattooed Chameleon” Sydney musician Annie Hamilton explores transformation, nostalgia and self-discovery through propulsive, distorted guitars and cascading, melodic vocals. Following the release of her debut single “Fade” last year, the song is also a testament to Annie’s astute, direct storytelling and her ability to combine vulnerability with a versatile sound that oscillates between hushed contemplation and explosive, cinematic soundscapes.
The song was written in a single night, after Annie got home from playing guitar in Jack River’s live band, and was struck by a kind of divine inspiration. “Sometimes I just get this feeling that’s like… quick! sitdown!” she says. She set up all her gear, and the song just poured out of her. She ended up using the first, raw vocal and guitar takes on the single. A couple of days later, when it came to recording drums and bass with Catriona Hunter and Mark Hardingrespectively, alongside engineer and co-producer PeteCovington, she used their first takes as well, resulting in a song brimming with frenetic energy.
“The wholeprocess was so cool because we were not trying to over complicate it, not trying to change it, but just letting it be what it first was. I love the imperfections.” she says.
The song charts the pitfalls of romantic fantasies – how an experience rarely ever lives up to the expectations you construct in your head – and the realisation that time and distance has warped your memory and your perception. The song’s bracingly vulnerable lyrics are juxtaposed against shimmering pop hooks and atmospheric, lush production, presenting quiet, personal moments with boldness and confidence.
The song’s accompanying video encapsulates that mood perfectly. Directed by filmmaker SammyHawker, and filmed one very late night in Austinmer, the video depicts Annie running, dancing andplunging into the icy ocean in the dark in a moment of realisation and reckoning. Shot on a hand-heldcamera, the video’s woozing angles, lucid lights and personalised, exacting gaze explore the track’s themes of disorientation and uncertainty.
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“I was listening to the demo of this song on a late-night walk home in December. It’s the perfect tempo to pace to – not a stroll in the park but a walk of intention and purpose. I always think of my songs being cinematic accompaniments to certain moments and this was the moment, dark and late and vivid lights and warm night air, in its own world, existing entirely separate to whatever else was going on around it. Sammy brought this world to life one late january night in Austinmer, filming out of the back of a ute driving down the road as I walked along behind, never quite catching up. We wanted the camera to be like another character, alive and frenetic and wild, shifting in and out of focus, embracing the hand-held imperfection. It is disorienting and chaotic and perfectly encapsulates the energy of the song.” – Annie
Annie was formerly a member of Sydney band Little May, playing lead guitar. Their brand of melodic, intricate indie-rock saw the group tour internationally, and release their critically acclaimed debut album For The Company, which was produced by The National’s Aaron Dessner, in 2015. But when Annie returned from a lengthy tour in 2016, she felt a desire to focus on her own projects, and left the group. Picking up from her previous studies in textiles and graphic design, Annie started her own eponymous clothing label, with a focus on timeless garments, sustainable fabrics and ethical production.
But it wasn’t until a creative residency in the tiny, isolated Icelandic town of Ísafjörður that she really began working her own music. She spent two months holed up in her apartment, writing new songs, experimenting and honing her sound, as well as designing her fashion label’s latest collection Equinox.
The first taste from that busy writing period arrived in June of last year, with the release of the stark and stirring song “Fade”. The song starts slow, until it unfurls into a wash of fuzzy guitars and a soaring chorus, perfectly capturing the feeling of desperately waiting for an emotional connection to dissipate. The song and accompanying video garnered praise from Triple J, FBi Radio, RUSSH and Happy Mag, accumulating over 60,000 streams and securing support slots on tours with artists such as Julia Jacklin, Jack River and Phantastic Ferniture.
Annie has promised more new music arriving this year. If “My New Tattooed Chameleon” and “Fade” are anything to go by, the songs will certainly be rich in striking vulnerability and lush, immersive sonics, and will further mark the emergence of a singular Australian talent.
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Produced and engineered by Annie Hamilton and Pete Covington
Mixed by Pete Covington
Mastered by John Davis @ Metropolis London
Drums + Percussion performed by Catriona Hunter
Bass performed by Mark Harding
Guitars, synths and vocals performed by Annie Hamilton
Recorded at Oceanic Studio, Sydney
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Listen now on
Spotify~ Apple Music~ PEOPLE~ Soundcloud~ Triple J Unearthed~ Bandcamp
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My New Tattooed Chameleon is available digitally now via Inertia Access.
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Upcoming Gig:
The Lansdowne, Sydney
Thursday 9th May
supporting Sloan Peterson
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Follow ANNIE HAMILTON
Website Facebook Twitter Instagram
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AMNPLIFY – DB
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Why start a music environment? The truth is I love music, I love writing, and I love life. I work with musicians every day, and I feel certain that I will be until they put me in the ground. I have been managing people in businesses of some sort for over thirty five years so along the way I have developed some “wisdom” from my regular and constant “observations”.
Amnplify your experience. That is what we want you to do here, and if you want to let me know why you do, or don’t, shoot me a message on Facebook.
Hope you enjoy yourself here and find something that hits you somewhere.
