It's been almost three years since Stella Donnelly's last studio album Flood. Today the Australian singer-songwriter is back with her first new music since then, the singles "Baths" -- the woman likes bodies of water! -- and "Standing Ovation." "Baths" is a bit of a departure from the guitar-forward indie-pop we're used to hearing from Donnelly, a brief, two-minute track where she sings over just a few simple droning notes in the background. It almost functions like an a cappella tune that puts the lyrics about difficult familial relationships at the forefront: "Like water/ Rushed into a daughter/ Wild river flowing/ No one dared to dam." She hasn't announced a new album yet, but this would be a good opener for one.
"I came up with this melody while I was swimming laps at the Brunswick Baths, the pool filter was making a humming sound on one note which allowed me to sing a melody over the top," Donnelly explains in a statement. "It then continued when I got home and had a shower with the bathroom fan on. Both activities made it difficult to write any lyrics down. I finally sat with a keyboard and held a note and it all just came together. A little timeline of my life so far."
Meanwhile, "Standing Ovation" begins as continuation of "Baths," before the motionless ambience gives way to a peppy drum and guitar riff. Donnelly directed the "Baths" video with Jack Gaby and Marcel Tussie, and you can watch it and listen to "Standing Ovation" below.
