INTERVIEW: Owl Eyes releases new EP 'Invisible Woman': "With every piece I put into the world going forward, people get to know me a little more."

Image: Eloise Coker

Melbourne singer Owl Eyes - real name Brooke Addamo - first captured our attention in 2013 when her debut album Nightswim stormed into the Australian top 40 albums chart. She has since gone on to perform sold out national tours, appear at music festival SXSW, and for the past few years has toured the world as vocalist for band Flight Facilities, including slots at Coachella and Glastonbury.

Today she releases her new EP, Invisible Woman. Addamo wrote the EP in both Australia and Europe, where she took time out in Belgium after feeling burnt out after an intensive touring schedule. “I went away to try to disconnect from the music industry, and really reconnect with myself as an artist,” Addamo says. While there, she had the opportunity to work with Belgian producer DJ Vito de Luca, who she ultimately worked with for most of the EP. Those used to Addamo’s indie pop from her debut album will find she has expanded her musical palette with Invisible Woman whilst staying true to her roots. There is a kaleidoscope of different sounds on the EP, from the lushly produced, jazz and soul inflected ‘You Don’t Know Love’, which features singer TAPZ, to the chilled out disco of ‘On Me’ and ‘Silver and Gold’. Latest single ‘Tokyo’ is a synth pop gem which details the collapse of a relationship in the title city, while EP closer, second single ‘You and I’, is probably gives the biggest buzz - and surprise - on the EP, with it’s frenetic ‘I Feel Love’ inspired backbeat, swirling electro beats and multi-layered vocals it is a glorious sonic trip to the late 1970s-early 1980s. The highlight of the EP has to be the title track ‘Invisible Woman’, a beautiful piano ballad which forms the core of the EP and is almost the companion piece to ‘Tokyo’ as Addamo comes to terms with the end of her relationship: ‘I’m not the same without you…invisible woman is how I feel now’ she sings. It is a remarkable track and in many ways sums up the EP - facing adversity but returning stronger than ever. “While it feels incredibly weird to be releasing music at a time like this, I’m excited to be putting these songs into the world,” Addamo says. “They were made in a different time, but hopefully people find what they need in them right now.”

To celebrate the release of Invisible Woman we spoke to Owl Eyes to find out more.

Hey Brooke! Thanks for chatting with us. How are you coping with quarantine and isolation?!
Hello, I am coping well thanks! It has been an up and down journey but I have been settling in as of late and it has been nice to write and dream of the future. 

Can we take it all the way back to the beginning and talk about what role music played when you were growing up?
Sure. Music really helped me growing up. I was initially enrolled into music classes to overcome shyness. My parents wanted me to have some hobbies to pull me out of my shell and make some friends. When I picked music they were just as surprised as I was, but it ended up being the best decision. Music has really helped soothe a lot of anxieties for me over the years. We do have a love/hate relationship but it will always be my first love. 

Was there a moment you decided to make music your career or did it happen organically?
I think it just happened naturally when you sing other peoples songs you eventually want to express yourself and sing your own. 

Your EP Invisible Woman is out and it is amazing, congratulations! Can you tell me a little bit about the creative process behind the EP?
Thank you very much. I’ve had some of these songs for a long time so it feels really nice to finally get them into the world. I can finally close a chapter of my life. 

The song ‘Invisible Woman’ went through many transformations and in the final version I came back to the original. That song really taught me to trust my intuition and in the end that the original idea is usually the most pure. I feel pretty nervous to release a ballad so raw but I’m also excited because it has really inspired me to be more vulnerable in the songs I am writing now. My inspirations always tend to come from my own experiences and what pours out of my subconscious.   

‘Tokyo’ was really influenced by being in the city and feeling the energy of it. After I had written the song I wanted it to sound like a Sofia Coppola movie looks and feels so we put ‘Lost In Translation’ on the big screen in the studio as we were finishing it.

There are a number of influences in there from synthpop to disco-funk. Was there a particular sonic landscape you were going for?
Not really, I try to just be in the moment and serve the song as best as I can without thinking about it too much. I think influences flow through that.

Is there a message, or theme, you want your music to project to the world?
Not particularly. I think I tend to write selfishly for myself but I do hope people can relate and with every piece I put into the world going forward they can get to know me a little more. 

Over the past few years you have toured the world as vocalist for Flight Facilities playing at some of the biggest festivals possible, what has that experience been like?
It’s been amazing, touring with your best friends is such a great experience. Playing those epic shows really help me develop myself as a performer. More than just the festivals it’s also the moments in-between that I cherish. 

What else is coming up from Owl Eyes in 2020?
Hm I’m not too sure in this current climate but I know I’ve been writing a lot of melancholy songs! 

Invisible Woman is out now via Mushroom Group. You can download and stream here.

To keep up with all things Owl Eyes you can follow her on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.