On new album Undone, Aussie songwriter Charlie Collins looks back upon a recent breakup: unpacking the event and confronting the resulting emotions head-on.
This doesn’t mean to say, however, that the LP is all nostalgia and teary eyes.
Tracks like ‘Just My Luck’ and ‘Backseat Valentine’ pack a punch that harks back to early noughties alt-rock, and the resulting aura of Undone is one of putting the past to bed, giving yourself a slap and moving forward with new beginnings.
Having already garnered considerable acclaim in her homeland (debut album Snowpine picked up an ARIA Award nomination), Charlie is setting her sights on new horizons. We spoke to the artist fresh off the back of her UK tour dates with compatriots Gang of Youths to talk about the new album and her forthcoming UK domination.
Undone sees you fusing the more folky elements of Snowpine with a little more indie-rock energy, what informed this transition?
It wasn’t a conscious decision, it kinda just came out that way. I never went into making this record with a vision of how I wanted it to turn out or sound like, I just kind of let the songs do their thing and let them land where they needed to land.
We bet Gang of Youth were a fun band to tour with! How did the pairing come about?
I’ve known those boys for over 10 years now and so it was like a beautiful family reunion. I just happened to be in London when they were setting off on their UK tour so it was almost meant to be.
Your new album has such a range, from ballads to bangers, which tunes are you the most excited to play to audiences?
Ohhhh! I’m pretty excited to play ‘Backseat Valentine’, purely because I’ve never really written a song like that before and it’s going to be fun to have a little rock out! I’m also excited to play more fragile songs like ‘November’ and ‘lovers to strangers’.
Having seen such considerable success back in Australia, what made you decide to make a big push in the UK for this new campaign?
Some of my family live in London, so I recently was there for 4 months visiting them – and I’m planning on moving over later in the year. So really the timing just felt really good and felt like the next step for me.
I just loved everything about the UK and can’t wait to dive more into it and spread my music further.
What else can we look forward to from Charlie Collins in 2022??
Maybe another album 😉
