Writing and recording this EP, Charley widened her sound scope to explore “a lot more 80s stuff”, as well as crediting the angsty anthems of Paramore and the new sound of Charlie Puth—”I think when I heard that sound going around, I thought, I wanna mess with that too.” For EP closer, the country-inspired ‘Stupid Thing to Say’, we owe Maron Morris and Noah Cyrus our thanks.

Charley’s travelled to Nashville, Sweden and Los Angeles to collaborate with international writers, made her live debut supporting artists such as Stephen Sanchez, CXLOE, MAY-A and Rebecca Black, performed at events including Isol-Aid Festival, and had her debut single – ‘Hard For Me’ – attract attention on streaming, radio and online, including coveted support from Spotify, Apple Music, Side Note, NME, Pilerats, Life Without Andy and more. Most recently Charley has been awarded the AMPAL Emerging Songwriter Prize in the APRA AMCOS 2022 Vanda & Young Global Songwriting Competition.

And although her debut EP is a six-song journey through a broken heart, Charley hopes her new music inspires some optimism in her listeners, too. That under the dirt under the glitter, there’s a blank canvas—a chance to start again. “I know this EP is really heartbreak focused, but I still want there to be a glimpse of hope that at some point, everything’s gonna work out. Fall in love when you wanna fall in love, be heartbroken and go through all this because I feel like everything happens for a reason.”

Charley’s heart on the sleeve approach to fearless song writing proves that the future of Australian pop is in strong, talented hands.

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