At just 17-years-old, Brisbane-born, LA-based singer-songwriter Amélie Farren is already carving out her own path. Her songs are intimate, cinematic and quietly devastating. Blending alt-folk storytelling with the subtle pull of indie-pop, her music thrives on stillness, atmosphere, and emotional honesty, drawing natural comparisons to artists like Phoebe Bridgers and Ethel Cain. From her early beginnings in the Sydney Children’s Choir to sharing stages with Amy Shark and Rag’n’Bone Man and earning radio support from triple j, Farren’s rise has been both organic and undeniable. Her debut album Airheaded continues this momentum, with lead single ‘Ocean Sounds’ capturing the lonely vastness and uneasy beauty that define much of her songwriting. Tender yet unsettling, her work explores growing pains, memory and the ache of letting go. For On The Record, we caught up with Amélie Farren to talk oceans, evolution and the stories behind her songs.
Welcome to Unrecorded! For those who aren’t already familiar with Amélie Farren, can you introduce yourself?
Hi! My name’s Amélie Farren, I make music sometimes. I’m a singer-songwriter somewhere in the alt-folk-pop genre.
Congratulations on the recent release of your latest single and album! How does that feeling and sound of the ocean connect with wider themes you explore here?
Open ocean was a consistent influence throughout the making of Airheaded, I think mainly because it’s one of the few things that genuinely unnerves me. The songs are all a reflection of that lonely, vaguely unsettled emotion I was fueled by.
If you had to assign a specific color or visual texture to ‘Ocean Sounds’, what would it be and why?
Is it predictable if I say blue? Specifically, a shade of blue so dark it’s almost black. For whatever reason, I wrote Ocean Sounds while imagining I was in a submarine impossibly deep in the water, so now I can’t associate the song with any other color. For a texture, maybe something grainy like television static. That’s how I feel listening to the bridge.
How has your songwriting evolved since the release of your debut single ‘suffering’ in 2024?
Suffering was actually released in 2022, though I’d written the song two years prior. My songwriting is constantly growing and changing. Having lyrics out there that I wrote at such a young age is a little daunting, but I’m thankful I’ve got a sort of melodic diary to see where I was at the time. I’ve no doubt in my mind I’ll feel the same way about Airheaded in a few years.
Would you say that the Australian, and particularly Brisbane, music scene has influenced your style?
I’ve been influenced by so many things in relation to music, it’s difficult to really pinpoint anything specific. I draw from all over the place. If I was to name the artists that have impacted me and my style I’d be listing for weeks.
Why do you think folk music continues to be such an important genre? And why is this your mode for your sonic world-building?
Simply put, I adore when music has a narrative. Folk is rooted so deeply in recounting history and traditions and culture, as a genre it’s incredibly close to my heart. I’m forever grateful that I’m able to share my own stories through song.
Can you think of a particular challenge you had to overcome while writing this song?
I wanted it to match with ‘fading to blue’, the track that comes before it in the album, but instead of being light and airy, Ocean Sounds would parallel it in a far more somber tone. I picture fading to blue as me floating on the surface of the water, then in Ocean Sounds I’m beginning to descend. The transition between the two songs took up a lot of my brain during the writing stage.
What was the experience like heading into the studio with producer Michael Keenan?
Mikey’s unbelievably brilliant, I’m so lucky to be able to work with him. He puts up with my insane ideas and finds ways to work them into the music even when I’m certain I’ve just suggested something impossible. He’s genuinely on another level, Airheaded wouldn’t have happened without him.
What do you hope that listeners will take away from ‘Ocean Sounds’?
If everyone that listens to my music feels something unique, I’ve succeeded. That’s all I really hope for as an artist.
Following this release, what will be next on the horizon for you?
No spoilers! You’ll have to wait and see.
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