Upcoming singer-songwriter Ebony Emili recently announced her new single Alright Andy, a total red herring of a song, written as an ode of sorts to Ebony’s psych. The spectacular new track precedes Ebony’s new EP Answer Me, Andy, a five track adventure into Ebony’s charming world, out NOW! Ebony and the band will be launching the EP at Jive in Adelaide on August 6, with support from local faves Puree and The Mondays.

We got to hear from her on her on her new EP and what influenced it!

Stella Donnelly
Stella Donnelly is my absolute hero and I take so much inspiration from her writing. Stella is so unapologetic with her lyrics and confronts subjects that people usually shy away from. She uses songs like ‘Boys Will Be Boys’ and ‘U Owe Me’ to surface issues that are usually overlooked or disregarded, and is unmerciful when expressing how important they are to address. I also love that her sound is so unique and you can hear her past music endeavours in rock bands fuse with her studies in contemporary and jazz music to create her own sound.

Rex Orange County
I’m obsessed with the layering of Rex Orange County’s instruments and his ability to build songs in such interesting ways. When I’m writing music and I get stuck on how to stack instruments, I’ve looked to Rex’s tracks as a template. I know that Rex takes influence from Stevie Wonder and other jazz musicians and it definitely shows through in his writing. Having my own very talented jazz drummer, Andreanna Massacci, I often use Rex’s driven and rich drum sounds for reference. Just like Stella, I love the different influences peeking through to create that quirky contemporary pop sound.

The Beach Boys
There are really specific elements in songs by The Beach Boys that work so well in modern indie pop music, especially the use of vocal stacks. In all of my previous songs, I’ve dodged harmonies and backing vocals because they haven’t felt right in the genre, but now leaning into brighter, pop sounds, I’ve been playing around with Beach-Boys-type stacks and I love it. In ‘Wouldn’t It Be Nice’, The Beach Boys use playful vocal layering to brighten the song and you can really hear that influence through the title track of the EP, ‘Alright Andy’.

Remi Wolf
A lot of artists that inspire me aren’t only great artists, but they put their personality and charisma on show. Remi Wolf has been so vocal about wanting to innovate pop music and not conform to the rules of pop, and she has been doing that by remorselessly showing her sense of humour in her art. She’s also so transparent about her personal life and what goes on behind the scenes; like her sexuality and struggles against sobriety which I find so inspiring. When big name artists use their platforms to break down social stigmas just like Remi Wolf does, it gives smaller, emerging artists the drive to do the same, which has an incredible impact on audiences.

Wolf Alice
After hearing Wolf Alice’s ‘Blue Weekend’ album, I was so motivated to finally create a body of work, instead of just another single. I felt tied down for so long because I couldn’t decide which genre I wanted to slide into and I had so many different ideas, but after hearing the entire Blue Weekend album I decided I didn’t have to choose just one. Wolf Alice flawlessly explore so many genres including indie rock, dream pop, grunge, folk and many more. They do this in a way that makes their music engaging and interesting to listen to for hours on end. This is so inspiring because it’s an incredible example that you can create art in any way you want to, not just how people expect you to.