ALICE SKYE ANNOUNCES SOPHOMORE ALBUM I FEEL BETTER BUT I DON’T FEEL GOOD
Naarm-based Wergaia / Wemba Wemba songwriter and artist, Alice Skye, announces her highly-anticipated second album I Feel Better But I Don’t Feel Good to be released on July 23 via Bad Apples Music. The news arrives with the record’s latest single, “Party Tricks”, plus the recent unveiling of a national double-header tour with Elizabeth throughout June and July.
“Party Tricks” is today’s gritty anthem that sees Alice’s ethereal vocals skirt atop hard guitars and heavy cymbal crashes. Oozing with darker rock production and a taste of grunge, the track delves deeper into Alice’s work with producer Jen Cloher for a resounding shift in her signature sound that was teased among previous singles “Stay In Bed”, “Grand Ideas” and the eponymously titled, “I Feel Better But I Don’t Feel Good”, to also feature on the full-length record.
Alice says of the single: “The chorus kind of says it how I felt. I was stuck in a situation that was just adding to my already warped sense of self. It can be easier to end up in bad relationships that feel comfortable because it's familiar, than get used to the idea that you deserve more. It takes work to see an out and I definitely wrote this song when I was sitting deep in that place. I just wanted a song to wallow in and play really loud.”
Alice Skye’s forthcoming sophomore work, I Feel Better But I Don’t Feel Good cements a true come to form in her meteoric rise. Successor to her award-winning piano-lead debut, Friends With Feelings, the new full length is forged at the intersection of her unmatched, intimate songwriting with a rich sound palette, shaped by Jen Cloher and Alice’s own childhood friends and close bandmates, Sam and Kane King. Translating raw, familiar introspection into a cohesive collection of dreamy indie cuts, rock ballads and softer moments, Alice’s emotional transparency targets the push-pull of the relationships we keep with ourselves and others, instilling a healing ode to life and getting by.
To celebrate the single release & a long awaited return to headline shows, Alice will perform her award-winning repertoire in venues across the country in a double-headlining tour alongside fellow rising Melbourne anti-pop star, Elizabeth. Launching at Adelaide’s Grace Emily on Saturday, June 19, Alice & Elizabeth will next visit Sydney’s The Vanguard on Thursday, June 24, before heading north to Brisbane’s Black Bear Lodge on Friday, June 25. On Saturday, June 26, they will perform at Solbar in Maroochydore, before venturing south to Melbourne’s The Curtin Hotel for two sessions on Friday, July 2. The following evening, Saturday, July 3 the acts will play at Castlemaine’s The Bridge Hotel before a tour finale performance at Ballarat’s Volta on Sunday, July 4.
2021 has seen Alice Skye’s formidable career blossom further; supporting The Avalanches’ return to the stage, announced to appear in the returning season of ABC’s Spicks N Specks, and having coveted support slots performing with and alongside Midnight Oil on their Makarrata Live tour, where her performance was singled out with wild acclaim and followed her feature on the band’s 2020 mini-album with “Terror Australia”. For May, Alice too has been announced to feature on US superstar act, Moby’s forthcoming album, and will perform along regional Victorian touring festival, STBS. The record’s three aforementioned single releases follow on from Alice being a finalist in the triple j Unearthed NIMA competition, and receiving a nomination for the Archie Roach Foundation Award for Emerging Talent, to retain her role as one of Australia’s brightest voices and most honest lyricists.
Alice kicked off her uprise with 2018’s debut Friends With Feelings, since going on to reach #10 in the iTunes charts, sweep up multiple coveted award titles, plus perform alongside the likes of Paul Kelly, Benny Walker, Colin Hay, Thelma Plum and Stella Donnelly. She’s found fierce followers in festival appearances at Falls Festival, Lost Lands Festival, Twilight at Taronga, the Sounds Australia stage at the Folk Alliance International Conference in New Orleans, Isol-Aid, ABC Radio National's Reconciliation Week event In Concert Together, and the live-streamed Music Victoria Awards. After a cancelled Canadian tour and SXSW appearance in 2020, Alice was also able to showcase her live show on an international scale in the 2021 SXSW virtual edition.
When not creating or performing her own songs, Alice devotes her time as a staunch activist for Indigenous rights and Blak Lives Matter movements. Her passion for her home language and country by Gariwerd (The Grampians) shines through all aspects of her work, including on forthcoming album track “Wurega Djalin”. Remaining closely connected to her heritage and other First Nations peoples, she has worked with Uncle Jack Charles in the recent film clip for “Stay In Bed”, and proudly featured on projects such as the Deadly Hearts 2 compilation album, and the 2020 tribute edition of Kev Carmody’s seminal album, Cannot Buy My Soul alongside the likes of Courtney Barnett, Kasey Chambers, Jimmy Barnes and Archie Roach. Earlier this year, Alice was praised by one of her all-time favourite artists, US star Phoebe Bridgers during an interview with Triple J Unearthed. Additional to her success in music, Alice has also featured in campaigns for Country Road and BONDS’ Bloody Comfy range, among fellow creative women Georgia Maq, Montaigne, Ali Barter and more.
As one of the country's most exciting and prolific emerging talents, Alice Skye now gears up to release her sophomore album, I Feel Better But I Don’t Feel Good via label for Indigenous excellence, Bad Apples Music. Alice’s clever disposition for honest lyricism, coupled with a shimmering stage presence, ensures you will not want to miss attending her celebratory run of live shows in June and July.
