CARLA WEHBE REVEALS 'LOVE ME FOR ME' - NEW SINGLE & VIDEO+ ANNOUNCES DEBUT EP <em>HALF PAST NINE </em>OUT FRIDAY 23 OCTOBER
Image Credit: Dylan Bow
“one of the greatest pop songs to be released this year”
- WOMEN IN POP
“hooked from start to finish”
- TRIPLE J
“The debut single from Sydney-based artist Carla Wehbe is subversive story told through a shimmer of synths and rapid electronic drumming. And the video is teenage ennui perfection, like an extended, grainy supercut of ’80s wistfulness and suburban mayhem.”
- TONEDEAF
"a triumphant piece of home-grown electronic pop."
- AUSPOP
Pop artist on the rise Carla Wehbe (pronounced wee-bee) today follows up her bold debut solo single ‘Don't Tell Me’ with a one-two punch of exciting news. The Sydney-based singer, songwriter, musician and producer reveals her sentimental new single 'Love Me For Me’, accompanied by a moving visual, alongside the news her debut EP Half Past Nine will be released on Friday 23 October.
Holding the most weight personally for Carla, ‘Love Me For Me’ is about being exactly who we are and how being different shouldn’t make us feel isolated or excluded; that in fact our uniqueness makes us both interesting and beautiful. It tells a tale of hope for being loved and the promise to give the same back. "I never understood why I couldn’t just be accepted for how I was, who I liked or how I liked to dress,” Carla explains, “Sometimes I like to get dressed up and other times I just want to wear ripped jeans, an oversized t-shirt, converse and a baseball cap. Both are me and that’s ok."
Written with Kennedi Lykken (Ariana Grande, Dua Lipa) and produced by Boy Boy (CXLOE), Carla explains how the track came together. “The writing process was a little different to other songs. Kennedi, Boy Boy and I spoke for hours about everything from growing up in religious families, to heartbreak, to feeling too different to fit in anywhere before we even thought about what we were going to write. The song pretty much wrote itself and half an hour later ‘Love Me For Me’ was born."
*SENSITIVE CONTENT WARNING*
Carla Wehbe - 'Love Me For Me' (Official Video)
The visual element that accompanies ‘Love Me For Me’ was born from Carla’s very own experiences and desire to shine a light on the complexity of the human condition, tying back to the song’s lyrical storyline. Carla, who is as spectacular behind the camera as in front of it, completely creatively directed the video and shot the short film alongside a small team over the past month. Of the video’s inception, Carla explains, “‘Love Me For Me’ holds a special place in my heart. Mental health hasn’t always been important to me, but the experiences I’ve gone through over the past few years have completely changed that. Having personally experienced anxiety and a struggle with mental health, I know how easy it is to not talk about it and fall into a dark place.”
The objectives of the video were simple, tying seamlessly back to the song’s lyrics; to be beautiful storytelling and to make the viewer feel something. “I want young people who are struggling with their mental health to know that they’re not alone and that it’s okay to talk about it,” she explains. Carla and her small production team reached out to an intriguing cross-section of people, all with their own personal battles and experiences, inviting them to tell their stories. “There was one common theme across all their stories - and it was that they ultimately just wanted to be loved for who they were,” Carla continues. “Not only did we create the video exactly how I dreamed, I also met some incredibly strong people in the process. Their inspirational stories have shown me the importance of mental health and awareness.”
‘Love Me For Me’ stands as the second single and second track on Carla Wehbe’s debut body of work - an EP titled Half Past Nine due for release on 23 October. Across it’s four tracks, Half Past Nine explores themes of love (for others and self), the beauty (and ugliness) of human connection and the vulnerability of living out your own truth. The EP highlights Carla’s signature sound - a seamless merging of current pop melodies with an edgy 80’s nostalgia. Carla’s pure pop vocal is teamed effortlessly with vulnerable song writing and coupled with a tough exterior and vintage style that is at the same time inviting and admirable.
Joining ‘Love Me For Me’, ‘Don’t Tell Me’ was inspired by a night out when, when looking for a friend in a bar, Carla was confronted by a man who asked, “Would it kill you to smile?”. ‘Somebody Loves You’ is about falling for someone, the second you meet them, and from that moment a little piece of your heart leaves with them. Title track ‘Half Past Nine’ rounds out the EP - a song about the drama, and sometimes unorthodox nature of human connection and relationships.
A true creative by definition, Carla Wehbe is a singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer, with her fingerprints all over everything she creates. She is also a hugely talented photographer and videographer and is set to launch her own clothing label in the not too distant future. Carla also recently ran a writing camp with some of her fellow musicians in New South Wales’ Kangaroo Valley which was attended by Xavier Dunn and CXLOE - to name a few - and plans on running similar events regularly.
Carla’s first foray into music came in the form of her collaboration with Tyron Hapi and Roy Bing on the 2019 single ‘Touched’, which has since clocked over 4 million streams. On her debut EP Carla is due to deliver a tremendously mature body of work that explores some deeply personal yet all-too-relatable topics. ‘Love Me For Me’ is out now and Half Past Nine is available to pre-save now.