INTERVIEW: Sarah Wolfe and The Flowers collaborate on new single '100 Times'
Sydney singer-songwriter Sarah Wolfe has made a rapid ascent on the music scene in the last 12 months since she switched from working behind the scenes as a music journalist to being front of stage as a performer. Her first two singles ‘Devil U Know’ and ‘U Think This Is a Game?’ were polished indie-electro-pop gems and earlier this year her duet with her partner Xavier Dunn, a cover version of ‘I Think We’re Alone Now’, attracted the attention of superstar Normani who added it to her Working Out Together playlist on Spotify.
Today Wolfe releases her fourth single ‘100 Times’, which features Sydney band The Flowers (Aggy O’Dwyer and Leighton Cauchi). A gorgeous confection of sonic contradictions with chilled out, gentle guitar pop sitting comfortably alongside a thumping electro beat, the discord sits well with the heartfelt melancholic lyrics: ‘Sometimes I feel like going back / Not to change, just to feel it all again, and I know…I’m alone.” It’s a genuinely impressive song that showcases the exceptional talent Wolfe has for crafting standout pop music, and at such an early stage in her career she is more than living up to her potential as the next big thing in Australian music. We recently caught up with Sarah and lead singer of The Flowers Aggy to chat more about the creation of this pop gem.
Hey Sarah and Aggy! Great to chat to you! How have you been coping with the last few months of lockdown?!
Thanks for having us! I (Sarah) have been great and relaxed and eating lots and walking my cat, Aggy however broke her wrist. LOL!
Congratulations on your new duet single ‘100 Times’ which is absolutely amazing! While this may be the first time you have released music together, I’m reliably informed you are long-time best friends - when did you first meet, what’s your backstory?
We first met day one in year 7 when we were put together in one of those ‘get to know each other’ groups ha ha! From then we bonded over our shared love of music and lemon slices from the canteen, and have stayed friends since. We’ve travelled together, went to schoolies together, and have just done so much together that we thought why don’t we have a song together yet?!
Outside of this release, what is your musical history together, have you performed/worked together before outside of your professional careers?
We have performed very poorly done renditions of Adele’s ‘Rolling In The Deep’ and MGMT’s ‘Electric Feel’ for our high school music class ha ha. Once we left high school, we started taking a career in music more seriously, and it is then that we started writing together and leaning on each other’s experiences.
What prompted you to work together on ‘100 Times’?
We thought it was silly that we had done so much writing together but had never thought of putting out a track together! Definitely something we had to tick off our friendship bucket list!
What was the inspiration behind the song?
It is based on our adventures in New York when we went in 2019, and it is essentially a nostalgic love letter to that gorgeous city. We can’t even fathom how much the world has changed since we went on that trip, and we hope this song is a warm hug to anyone who is missing their friends and their home away from homes.
Can you tell me a little about the creative process behind the song?
We had been discussing the theme of what we wanted to write about before we got in the room together to do it. Aggy brought an amazing melodic/lyrical idea in on the day, and she, Xavier Dunn, and I finished it off in a few hours. It was such an easy and amazing day, the only thing that went wrong was that the pho restaurant around the corner was closed for lunch…
Sarah, your last single - the gorgeous down-tempo cover of ‘I Think We’re Alone Now’ with Xavier Dunn - was noticed by Normani and she placed in on her Working Out Together playlist. That must have been an incredible moment for you?
It was truly unbelievable! Literally at first all I read was ‘Working Out Together’ and thought it must have been an error because our song is so chilled ha ha! Delving deeper, it turns out Normani just likes to do yoga to our song. How cool is that!? I still squeal.
What artists/music have you both been getting into during isolation?
Sarah: Mark Ronson’s ‘Late Night Feelings’ album, FKA Twigs’ ‘MAGDALENE’, and ‘Rain On Me’ by Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande about 23,180,491 times.
Aggy: Vintage Frank Ocean, the new The 1975 album, and Hayley Kyoko.
Aggy, what else can we expect coming up from you and The Flowers for the rest of 2020?
We have got a couple of tracks up our sleeves ready for this year! Watch this space (please).
Sarah, same question, what else do you have planned for the rest of 2020?
Sarah: Ditto with Aggy! Our sleeves are so full nothing else is gonna fit! But maybe a few more songs, who knows? Maybe an EP early next year!
Aggy: I have had the pleasure of hearing a sneak peek and I can tell you that y’all are in for a treat!
Thank you both for chatting to us - see you both at the postponed Women In Pop Live soon?
We can’t WAIT for Women In Pop live. Thanks so much for having us!
‘100 Times’ by Sarah Wolfe featuring The Flowers is out now. You can download on iTunes and stream on Apple Music or Spotify.
Sarah Wolfe will be appearing at Women In Pop Presents later this year - follow us on social media for further announcements about tickets.
To keep up with all things Sarah Wolfe you can follow her on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
To keep up with all things The Flowers you can follow them on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
Listen to the Women In Pop podcast with Sarah Wolfe here
