Gold Coast indie artist Ella Fence explores the fragility of life and the unnerving power your inner voice commands when contemplating the big picture stuff on her newest single, 'Couple Kids'.
A musician who has crafted a decade-plus career that continues to bloom – with multiple Gold Coast Music Awards, international tours, supporting the likes of Kate Miller-Heidke, Washington, Baker Boy and Katie Noonan, and five million Spotify streams – next month Ella joins American artist Sofia Isella as the main support for her Spilt Milk side shows.
Beautifully languid, the opening strains of spaciously strummed guitar on 'Couple Kids' hits you with all the feels, Ella's tender, hushed vocals musing about life's chaoticness and the unrestrained speed that major events pass by, as you transit from youthful enthusiasm to adult introspection and the burden of living up to society's expectations.
It's an alt. country-flavoured indie rock slow burner that burrows itself deep into your soul, the nostalgia dripping with equal parts sentimental glee and bruised rumination.
The rhythm section slowly builds the tempo, the repeated lyrical refrain of "thought we'd have a couple of kids by now," Ella weaves throughout the song adding to the track's crushing feels.
By the time the thumping drums and jangly-frenzied guitar meander to a quiet loudness at song's end, you'll be peering through misty eyes, contemplating your own life's trajectory while bathed in the warm glow that nostalgia offers.
"It's about the quiet urge to escape, and the tenderness that comes with finally understanding where that desire comes from. I'm thankful for the space music gives me to explore that in a healthy way."
Ahead of the song's release tomorrow (7 November), today scenestr is pleased to premiere 'Couple Kids'. Enjoy.
"I started writing a song on the balcony of my old sharehouse. The line 'there's a little balcony I like to sit on,' that repeats twice is so deeply sentimental to me," Ella shares.
"I remember sitting on that balcony, thinking 'wow, this is a moment in time for me, I wish it would last forever and I wish I could show everyone in my life this place,' – kind of like, realising that you're in a period of life that doesn't last forever and you just wish you could capture it to show people later in life, when you're much older, just how special it is. Surely I'm not the only person to feel this?!"
'Couple Kids' is also the first song that Ella has created in unison with her backing band, a process Ella is keen to repeat. "My band and I play live as a five piece – all five of us sing, we have two guitars, bass and drums – and this song was the first time we all worked collaboratively on a body of work.
"We each contributed to the recording, songwriting, production phases and it really opened up to me just how bored I was creating in isolation."
The recording of 'Couple Kids' was made extra cute, with Ella and the band joined by a doggo in the studio. "I was puppy raising a guide dog for a number of months earlier this year and he was a gorgeous little studio dog too, so special mention to Yusef for being the goodest boy and #1 collaborator buddy. Collaboration is key!"
Sofia Isella 2025 Tour Dates
Tue 9 Dec - The Triffid (Brisbane)Wed 10 Dec - Palais Theatre (Melbourne)
Fri 12 Dec - The Roundhouse (Sydney)
