An indie rock-pop three-piece band from the 'quaint' suburbs of Adelaide, Orelia's (pronounced: Oh Ray Lee Ah) debut single is the bright, upbeat 'Wake Up Call' – a song whose rhythm will have you dancing like it's 2019 again.
With melodic keys, soaring vocals, thumping bass and energetic percussion highlighting the track's pulsating energy, the lyrical direction of 'Wake Up Call' offers an introspective view of fitting into society while trying to escape the monotony of day-to-day life."'Wake Up Call' came from a period last year, where I explored my new-found creative freedom while in isolation, but also was faced with truths about myself I hadn't had time to process until everything suddenly stood still," the group's lead vocalist and keys player Chelsea Turner says.
"When I looked around at my friends and realised they were all going through the same thing, I wrote this song. I sat down at the piano and it was done in an hour."
The song quickly came together as Orelia's debut single after Chelsea shared it with drummer Troy Benson and bassist Heath Trebilcock. "Troy knew exactly what to do with it when he heard it, and I could sing the bassline to Heath," Chelsea says.
"It was exciting the first time we got together to play it and when we went into the studio, it made total sense for it to be the first single."
Now the trio had teamed with Kristoffer Jaw-Moss from Gutter-Pop Pictures to produce a music video for 'Wake Up Call' that scenestr is stoked to premiere today. Enjoy.
"Kristoffer made it incredibly easy to develop our ideas for the clip," Troy says. "He told us what would and wouldn't work, which was something we needed to hear from a pro.
"His creativity, professionalism and calm approach made us feel understood and relaxed, while we dug deep and explored the most vulnerable aspects of our personality on camera. We'd like thank him for making us feel so comfortable."
When it came time to record 'Wake Up Call', there was only one person for job. "Working with Joseph Cheek from Island Studios was something I knew had to happen. It just had too," Chelsea says.
"I saw him play his album launch years ago and then he mixed Orelia live. I then heard his production on Lost Woods (massive Peter White fan right here).
"I went to his home studio and played his upright piano and years later, I had six new songs in their infancy. Orelia was ready to record and Troy said 'we could go here or here' and I said: 'I want Joe.' And that was that.
"It's not a simple task to make a three-piece band sound full and sonically stand up to everything else when piano is the fundamental instrument. The way he has developed our sound and worked with us on 'Wake Up Call', elevates it to somewhere we couldn't have got to without his creative input.
"When I needed a push to get a better take on piano, he gave me the push. When something was going wrong in the studio, he made everyone feel calm and knew what we needed to do.
"When happy accidents happened, like Heath jamming along to 'Wake Up Call' with an electric guitar, he put it in and made it an essential part of the song.
"When we needed synths and shakers he did synths and shakers. I can't wait to work with him again and see where the next sounds transcend to."
Orelia are part of the Keys To The City line-up at Chateau Apollo (Adelaide) on 8 August that is part of 2021 Umbrella Festival programme.
