EVEN Sydney singer Odette admits she was one of “those kids”.

“I do love performance,” Odette says. “I was the kid in the choir who always put their hands up when they asked who wanted to sing a solo. And they did not give me very many solos in choir. It could have been because I wasn’t really into show tunes. I would ask if we could do a Crowded House song instead. I was very salty about not getting solos …”

Now 21, Odette’s debut album To a Stranger may have just lobbed (it’s Triple J’s Album of the Week this week) but she’s been playing the long game.

She started writing poetry and songs at age eight (“God that sounds douchey”) and started posting videos of her early songs videos on You Tube.

“Look, they’re not good. But I can’t take them down. It’s my mum’s account and she doesn’t remember the password or the email she used to open it! So it’s there forever.”

Aged just 14, she signed with her manager and London-born, Sydney based Georgia Sallybanks adopted her stage name.

“I was obsessed by Rihanna. I still am. She was born Robyn Rihanna Fenty and she uses her middle name. So I told mum I wanted to use my middle name, which is Odette. Cool, thanks Rihanna.

“I don’t feel like I look like an Odette. It’s a bit of a reach. Odette is the project. It’s the enigma, to use a completely pretentious term to describe it. It also describes the zone I get in when I write. When I write I don’t necessarily feel like myself. I feel very much removed. My body is on autopilot. I’m not in there. I just write for hours and then a song is done. I can do six hours writing a day and listen back and realise wow I’ve just completely psychoanalysed my entire life. Which is strange but it keeps me on my toes.”

Those songs quickly got the attention of EMI, who signed Odette aged 17.

“I was still in high school,” she says. “And I told them I needed to graduate high school. I loved English so much, there was no way I wasn’t going to finish that. I was an English nerd. I shouldn’t brag about that, it’s not cool. But EMI let me do my thing, they didn’t put any pressure on me. They knew I was young, they knew I had to have some life experience before I dove into making a record.”

Last year’s introductory single Watch Me Read You became an unexpected Triple J hit, reaching No. 56 on the Hottest 100.

“I mean, it’s a weird spoken word pop hybrid thing. I did think ‘Are people going to gel with this?’ So I was very pleasantly surprised when people did like it. We jumped in the deep end. I’m happy we did. I had one guy message me who has high functioning Aspergers. He said when he listened to Watch Me Read You and it was the first time all the noise stopped for a moment. I just cried. I hadn’t fathomed that my music could have that effect on a person.”

EMI hooked Odette up with producer Damian Taylor (Bjork, Arcade Fire, The Killers) who helped flesh out the songs that began on her piano to become how they sounded in her head.

“I love when things get more grand and dramatic. I love drama, especially in music.


“Damian said he wanted all of my thoughts and all the context, so I wrote a private blog for him. He completely immersed himself in all my rambling. When we met it was like we’d been talking for ages, there was no awkwardness, it was like ’Let’s make a great record.’”

To a Stranger has no fear of honesty. Do You See Me is “every insecurity I’ve ever had all in one song”, new single Lotus Eaters is a spoken word tale “about a time when I was not OK. I wrote it when I was about 15. Writing spoken word songs takes such a toll on me I need to sleep afterwards. Everything I do is completely drenched in memory, it’s preserving my experiences so I or someone else can take something from it. I’ve never had a problem being vulnerable or being honest.”

Previous single Collide’s lyrics were explained by an unapologetic video (which Odette wrote the treatment for) which came with a trigger warning for its scenes of abuse.

“It’s my most personal song. It’s about, I wanna say an ex, but not really an ex, it’s one of those situations. It is quite graphic, that was intentional. Often times of domestic violence get censored. I didn’t want to glorify it, but I wanted to make sure it wasn’t romanticised.

“It was a picture of domestic violence that was honest. The scenes of violence or emotional or verbal abuse are all things that happened to me. The way I felt comfortable including them in the clip is that it’s not just me who’s been through this. It’s a global problem a lot of people face on a daily basis.

“It was very cathartic making the video. I needed it. They say time heals all wounds, some times it just stays with you even if you try to make it go away. I’ve said what I needed to say, I’ve thought what I needed to think and I can put it to bed now. The goal was to start people talking, or continue the conversation or put my input into the conversation. It’s so important for women and men in that situation to have that dialogue and not censor themselves because they think someone will say ‘Oh that didn’t happen, you’re over dramatising it’. No, these things happened. You need to heal as a person. That can only be done through talking. I’m very passionate about talking.”

To a Stranger (EMI) out now. Rocket Bar Adelaide August 10 (sold out). Northcote Social Club Aug 11,12,14,15 (all sold out). Newport Hotel Fremantle Aug 17. Amplifier Perth Aug 18. Oxford Art Factor Sydney Aug 24 (sold out), Aug 26. Transit Bar Canberra Aug 25 (sold out). Black Bear Lodge Brisbane Aug 31, Sep 1 (both sold out)