'Mutual Obsession & Jealousy,' Moving On & More: Amélie Farren Digs Into The Themes Of Debut Album 'Airheaded'

Brisbane-based 17-year-old artist Amélie Farren is making waves following the release of her debut album, Airheaded.

Known for her alt-pop and alt-folk stylings, the record highlights Farren’s in-built sense of storytelling, poetic lyricism, addictive hooks, and cinematic melodic swells. The result is a layered, thought-provoking album that explores the complexities of unhealthy relationships and offers a unique perspective on life through Farren’s young yet wise lens.

Upon releasing the album last month, Farren explained, “It’s an accumulation of memories, experiences and conversations, fragments of night terrors... it all got wrapped up together in my head and now it’s an album!”

Already reaching the one million monthly listeners mark on Spotify and 6.3 million likes on TikTok, plus 100,000 followers across multiple platforms, Farren is connecting with audiences in Australia and around the world.

Her album, Airheaded, was recorded and produced by Michael Keenan (Bebe Rexha, Melanie Martinez) at his Los Angeles home studio. Farren’s 2022 singles, Unsweetened Lemonade and Suffering, have amassed millions of plays, and locally, she’s opened shows for Amy Shark and Rag ‘n’ Bone Man.

In addition to those achievements, Farren headlined a tour across the UK and Europe in May and hosted two BIGSOUND showcases in September. With her fanbase growing globally, the future is bright for Farren.

To celebrate the release of Airheaded, the Brisbane artist has shared a track-by-track exploration of the album, exclusively for The Music.

Amélie Farren – Airheaded Track-By-Track

fading to blue:

Very much a tone-setter for the album. I wanted it to have an airy, drifting vibe, kind of the calm before the storm. In my head, fading to blue is me floating in the middle of the sea, slowly losing consciousness, which then progresses to sinking deep into nothingness in Ocean Sounds.

Ocean Sounds:

The lyrics are centred on being overly accommodating for someone who really couldn’t care less. There are references to each of the other Airheaded tracks in this one, though I think it’d take too long for me to break it down. The sonar sound repeating through the song is one of my favourite things in the album. I see it as a sort of beacon, representing being lost and trying to find the way through the darkness.

HIT THE BREAKS:

Sometimes I get angry, and other times the anger is so long-lasting and suppressed that it morphs into something indescribable. HIT THE BREAKS was written about being entirely fed up with people who push boundaries and don’t take no for an answer.

pickuppickuppickuppickup:

I love when songs are written from an unexpected point of view; this one’s my contribution to that. It’s about stalking from the stalker’s perspective. Originally, I’d planned for it to be about the different stages of grief; that was my main inspiration when I started writing it.

CLEMENTINE:

I think this one was the first I wrote in Airheaded. The song’s about being in a relationship that isn’t necessarily the healthiest nor the most damaging, but is instead just very reciprocally intense. Funnily enough, I’ve never actually eaten a clementine. I should add that to my bucket list.

Jump The Gun:

Honestly, I was joking around a bit when I wrote Jump The Gun. A lot of songs repeat the same word or phrase a million times; I was poking fun at that a little bit. It took me ten minutes tops to write. Probably because of all the repetition.

aka’s white wolf:

This song is an ode to a game I played as a kid. It was about a retelling of Little Red Riding Hood and was an integral part of my childhood. I wrote aka’s white wolf to preserve the memory of it. It’s also the most blue song in the album, which is ironic considering one of the tracks is literally called ‘fading to blue’.

Contemplation Song:

This song has a painfully special place in my heart. I originally wrote it when I was fourteen, then kept editing and adding to it until it eventually made it into the album. The full version is actually close to nine minutes; I cut it down a fair bit for Airheaded. Contemplation Song was actually a draft title that I was planning on renaming, but I realised nothing else would’ve described it better than that.

Bitter Broken Love:

I toy a lot with the concept of hurting yourself in order to be more appealing to someone, basically the idea of love, with the tiny compromise of altering yourself entirely. I was more explicit with that theme in Bitter Broken Love. On a broader scale, the song’s about plastic surgery and unrealistic beauty standards. On a narrower one, it’s about my relationship with myself.

TREAT YOU LIKE A DOG:

I wrote it about someone I don’t like, to put it bluntly. Of all the music I’ve sung live, I get the most emotional singing this one, in a funny way. Sometimes, instead of pain or tragedy or whatever else, plain old irritation is the way to go. It’s not even actual anger I felt when I wrote the song; I don’t really think they’re worth that much effort. 

Morals And Their Implications:

Morals And Their Implications is a somewhat intimidating title for an even more intimidating song. It’s very difficult for me to fully explain my thoughts behind it, either because it’s more biting and bare than I’ve ever been before, or because the topic itself scares me. I think I’d prefer to leave this vague; a personal interpretation feels more fitting than me explaining it.

Your Eyes Betray Your Guilt:

I don’t often write about third-party characters in my music, but this song was the exception. It’s also a fair bit more specific compared to the rest of my work. In short, it’s about a priest who believes he’s betraying both himself and his faith solely due to his identity, all culminating in this unjustifiably traitorous feeling he can’t shake.

shiverrr:

I’m generally pretty uninterested in writing about requited, stable love, which makes shiverrr all the more special. There’s not a lot to say other than it’s about mutual obsession and a touch of jealousy.

Suburban Baby:

Suburban Baby is a very naive, ironic song from the perspective of a girl who doesn’t fully notice she’s being taken advantage of. On a slightly broader scale, I wrote it about craving individuality without understanding what it means, basically, inexperience in its purest form.

Star Spangled:

I wanted Star Spangled to capture the feeling of clarity and satisfaction that comes from genuinely moving on, plus the certainty that you’re better off now than you were before. I don’t think there could’ve been a better closing track for Airheaded.

Amélie Farren’s Airheaded is out now.