ELLA HOOPER to Release New Album OVERNIGHT SUCCESS
The singer recorded the project in Nashville with Jim Lauderdale, Steve Poltz, and Melody Walker.
Ella Hooper, the Australian singer-songwriter known as the former frontwoman of Killing Heidi, has announced her fourth solo album, OVERNIGHT SUCCESS, set for release on October 2nd. The project was recorded in Nashville, where Hooper worked alongside collaborators including Jim Lauderdale, Steve Poltz, and Melody Walker. Alongside the announcement, Hooper released the album's latest single, When The s Went Down.
Ella Hooper's upcoming album, OVERNIGHT SUCCESS, isn't exactly her 'gone country' moment—after all, how can one 'go country' when they're from the country in the first place?—but, OVERNIGHT SUCCESS can certainly be classified as the former Killing Heidi frontwoman's Nashville record. When it came time to track her fourth solo LP, Hooper found herself immersed in the well of musicianship of Music City, U.S.A., pinching herself, surrounded by A-team session players and songwriters alike. And there, a piece of Hooper's creative mind was unlocked. 'I guess it's not very original to say I found myself in Nashville,' she says. 'In some ways it's a muso's Camino trail, or a stint in the Ashram. My heroes, from Dylan to CMAT, have made their pilgrimages, and so I've always, always, dreamed about doing it too.'
The resulting album is Hooper's most confident body of work yet; an all-new, soon-to-be-best-of collection encompassing all of the musical components of her past, from Hooper's rise to pop-rock stardom, to her Americana-leaning return to the stage and studio with THE VERSES, to a Stevie Nicks-nudged leap into her now-evolving solo career. OVERNIGHT SUCCESS is the kaleidoscopic journey through all of those worlds, their ups and downs, and the turning of a new leaf in this modern era of Hooper's.
And while this new LP just might be the most humorous Hooper has ever been on record—the title alone gives a knowing wink to her decades-long career—at its heart, OVERNIGHT SUCCESS is an album about what happens after the fire of dramatic change burns out. Hooper lost both of her parents to cancer, got out of a long term relationship, and left her management and booking agent all within the span of a year. As charming and relaxed as it sounds on the surface, OVERNIGHT SUCCESS is also what it sounds like when a woman decides she has nothing left to prove, nothing left to give to the world's outdated systems. The girl who once topped the charts with teen angst anthems is now providing the soundtrack for releasing any last lingering limitations and allowing oneself to enjoy whatever comes next.
Today, Hooper released the latest single from OVERNIGHT SUCCESS, 'When The s Went Down.' Filling in the blanks between where Hooper's last album finishes and where this one begins, 'When The s Went Down' highlights Hooper's ability to spin simple poetry into a fine point. The tune's easy swagger belies its weighty lyrics. Over Petty-esque guitar hooks, the Melbourne singer recounts the losses she's had over the last few years. 'When the s went down, it shook my family tree / When the s went down, it came for the core of me,' she sings, beginning her healing with a reckoning.
Hooper has described OVERNIGHT SUCCESS as a reflection of a turbulent period in her life, following the deaths of both of her parents, the end of a long-term relationship, and a split from her management and booking agent. The album traces a path through her career, from her early pop-rock success to her work with THE VERSES and her current solo direction.
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