After the monumental success of her debut album last year, singer-songwriter Odette has spent 2019 carefully preparing for the next stage of her career.
“It's been a quieter year for releases because I've been working on a new project, a new record, and it's everything that I've ever wanted anything to be,” Odette says.
“I've had the best year – it's just been travelling and learning and listening and expanding my skill set. I'm really pushing myself and pushing my boundaries because I really want to deliver something that is Odette but the next level Odette, not just me feeling sad on a piano, which to be honest will always be a staple – 'she's just a sad girl'.”
Odette introduced herself in 2017 with her single 'Watch Me Read You' followed by debut album 'To A Stranger' last year, the response to which exceeding even Odette's wildest hopes and expectations. “It really was received quite well I'd say,” she says modestly.
Keep in mind that the album earned her two ARIA Award nominations in 2018 including Breakthrough Artist – not too shabby for your first album.
“People were really kind and wonderful and lovely. It was a little bit intimidating having to put something out there that's so representative of your feelings and pretty honest, so it was really nice when people were sending messages and being really supportive.”
'To A Stranger' also marks Odette's passing from teenager into adulthood, with the songs written over the course of several years from when she was just 17. Now 22, Odette has spent the past year since the release of 'To A Stranger' to focus on expanding her craft as she works on a follow-up album.
“I've been getting into my brass and orchestral stuff, but also I've been exploring different kinds of rhythms and polyrhythms,” she says, when asked about the music she's working on for the new album. “It's been a really eclectic time of learning and doing as much as possible, getting together all of my life influences and stories and trying to make something.”
By her own admission, Odette owes much to her cultural and musical heritage, which is diverse and colourful by any account. She was born in England, the daughter of a South African mother who instilled in her a love for soul, funk and tribal rhythms, and an English father – a pianist who gifted her the listening pleasure of UK punk and bands like Joy Division.
Going further down the line, her paternal grandfather George was a wartime jazz pianist. “What's good about that for me is that it didn't give me a set thing to listen to,” Odette says of her musical upbringing.
“It gave me a chance to go out and find out what I like. There was nothing that kept me in a box, I was really interested in all kinds of music from a very young age.”
While we wait for the next release from Odette, due next year, she'll be keeping busy with a number of live shows over the following months including a set at Lithgow Blast, which is raising funds for drought-affected communities, something very near and dear to Odette's heart.
“Because we live in cities and suburbs it's hard to remember that drought is deadly,” she says.
“It kills people, crops and animals, especially farmlands and communities that don't have access to the stuff that people in cities do. It's very important I think to really rally behind all kinds of causes that are about equal distribution of resources out to rural communities.”
As for next year, Odette is keeping herself on track with writing new music and exploring her musicality to the fullest extent. “Just keep fricking learning as much as possible,” she says when asked her plans for 2020.
“I don't ever want to get stuck in one mindset, I want to keep listening to all kinds of music and I want to travel to visit my family in South Africa who I've never met, that's a big goal for me.”
Odette Live Dates
Sat 16 Nov - Lithgow BlastMon 30 Dec - NYE On The Hill (VIC)
Thu 6 Feb 2020 - Party In The Paddock (TAS)
6-9 Mar - WOMADelaide
