Australian singer-songwriter Stella Donnelly built up some buzz with her 2017 EP Thrush Metal, rereleased last year on Secretly Canadian, a collection of spare yet powerful songs taking on subjects like sexual assault, victim blaming, and misogyny. And in March, she’s coming back with her debut full-length Beware Of The Dogs, which finds her compositions fleshed out by producer Dean Tuza and a full band including bassist Jennifer Aslett, drummer Talya Valenti, and guitarist George Foster.

Today, Donnelly is sharing lead single and opening track “Old Man,” a slice of sighing, sparkling indie-pop with an easygoing vibe that belies a vicious bite. “Boy if you touch her again/ I’ll tell your wife and your kids/ About that time/ Cause this is not ’93/ You lost your spot on the team/ You’re out of line,” Donnelly sings. And then comes the chorus: “Oh are you scared of me old man/ Or are you scared of what I’ll do?/ You grabbed me with an open hand/ The world is grabbing back at you.” As she explains in a press release:

I came up with the chords and chorus to this song in 2017 around the time when Woody Allen called the #metoo movement a witch hunt. It was a very strange feeling for me watching the world change right before my eyes and to see that these men who had exploited their power for so long were actually being held accountable for their actions. It made me look back on my experiences as a young woman doing music and certain powerful men who tried to manipulate me and exploit other young women. I needed to write this song for myself because if I hadn’t I would still feel quite angry about things that I probably let slide in my younger, more naive days. I have no intentions of publicly calling out these people but it’s a nice feeling to me knowing that they may hear this song one day and feel perhaps an inch of the humiliation and powerlessness that they inflicted on me back then.

The video, directed by Fiona Jane Burgess, follows Donelly and her friends and includes subtitles that toggle between the song’s lyrics and excerpts from a book called Every Woman’s Guide To Self Defense. Watch and listen below.

TRACKLIST:
01 “Old Man”
02 “Mosquito”
03 “Season’s Greetings”
04 “Allergies”
05 “Tricks”
06 “Boys Will Be Boys”
07 “Lunch”
08 “Bistro”
09 “Die”
10 “Beware of the Dogs”
11 “U Owe Me”
12 “Watching Telly”
13 “Face It”

TOUR DATES:
03/15 Washington, DC @ U Street Music Hall #
03/16 Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s #
03/18 Brooklyn, NY @ Rough Trade #
03/20 Hamden, CT @ Space Ballroom #
03/22 Somerville, MA @ ONCE Ballroom #
03/23 Montreal, QC @ Casa Del Popolo #
03/24 Toronto, ON @ The Drake Hotel #
03/25 Detroit, MI @ Deluxx Fluxx #
03/27 Columbus, OH @ Ace of Cups #
03/28 Bloomington, IN @ The Bishop #
03/29 Chicago, IL @ Schuba’s #
03/30 St. Paul, MN @ Turf Club #
04/02 Seattle, WA @ Barboza #
04/03 Portland, OR @ Polaris Hall #
04/05 San Francisco, CA @ Cafe Du Nord #
04/06 Los Angeles, CA @ Bootleg Theater #
04/11 Berlin, DE @ Badehaus
04/12 Hamburg, DE @ Skybar
04/13 Rotterdam, NL @ Rotown
04/15 Cologne, DE @ Yuca
04/16 Brussels, BE @ Botanique
04/17 Amiens, FR @ La Lune Des Pirates *
04/18 Paris, FR @ Le Pop Up Du Label
04/23 Cardiff, UK @ Clwb Ifor Bach
04/24 Bristol, UK @ Thekla
04/25 Southampton, UK @ Joiners
04/27 Brighton, UK @ Haunt
04/28 Manchester, UK @ Yes
04/29 Dublin, IE @ Grand Social
05/01 Glasgow, UK The Blue Arrow
05/02 Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Community Room
05/04 Liverpool, UK @ Liverpool Sound City
05/05 Nottingham, UK @ Bodega
05/07 London, UK @ Scala

# = with Faye Webster
* = supporting Yak

Beware Of The Dogs is out 3/8 on Secretly Canadian. Pre-order it here.

CREDIT: Pooneh Ghana