At 19, Australian singer-songwriter Lotte Gallagher is starting to find a new kind of freedom in making music. With her lead single “WISH” marking a shift in her sound and aesthetic, and latest single “LUCKY2LOVE” having just arrived, Gallagher is entering a new chapter without necessarily knowing exactly what it looks like yet. Ahead of her performance at Geelong’s CHURCH, Gallagher was embracing the uncertainty, experimenting with her sound and learning that sometimes the songs you least expect to love end up taking you somewhere entirely unexpected.
“I would say visually and sonically, I think I’ve moved towards a new vibe,” she tells me. “What that is, I don’t really know.”
It’s a refreshingly honest place to be, particularly as she’s still figuring out who she wants to be- both personally and creatively. Rather than heading into the studio with a specific sound or image in mind, Gallagher has found herself moving in a new direction almost by accident, with much of that evolution coming through her ongoing work with producer Ed Quinn.
“I think the change in sound, or different sounds that we’re using, has been kind of unintentional,” She explains. “I didn’t really go into the studio with him being like, ‘I want a different thing!’, I didn’t want to change anything, but we just did.”
Having worked together for around a year, the pair have developed a creative relationship that allows them to experiment without needing to have a solid plan mapped out from the beginning. “We both experiment with whatever we want to do, and we’ve met in this kind of uncomfortable area where we don’t know what we’re doing, but we just play and we have fun with it.”
The result of this risk is both “WISH” and “LUCKY2LOVE”- two of Gallagher’s most mature and sonically assured releases to date. Their willingness to sit with the unknown became particularly important when it came to “WISH”, because, despite now serving as a marker of a new chapter, the track wasn’t an immediate favourite for Gallagher. In fact, she admits that she didn’t really like it when she first wrote it.
For someone who describes herself as stubborn, trusting someone else’s instinct over her own wasn’t necessarily an easy process. Her label encouraged her to stick with the song and experiment further rather than abandoning it, eventually leading her to a version she could connect with.
“I realised he was actually right, and this song is actually kind of really fun and cool. And I love it where it is now.” She says.
One of the biggest changes came with the chorus, where an initially intense vocal arrangement was replaced with something softer and more layered. It was a relatively simple adjustment, but one that helped Gallagher understand what hadn’t been clicking for her in the first place. The experience gave her a different perspective on the creative process, particularly the importance of pushing through that awkward stage where something doesn’t quite sit right.
It also opened up a new approach to songwriting, particularly when it came to the track’s lyrics. Gallagher typically writes from personal experience, saying, “I kind of look at lyric writing like writing a diary. I write whatever comes to my head. I’ll think of a melody and I’ll immediately spill my guts in my notes app… I would say about 90 percent of my songs stay the same from the demo. I don’t really rewrite anything because I feel like for me that makes it inauthentic.”
With “WISH” however, however, she found herself exploring a different kind of storytelling. Originally conceived as a love song, the track gradually shifted towards a fictional narrative about a toxic, whirlwind relationship. It’s not a situation Gallagher has personally experienced, making the finished song a departure from her usual autobiographical approach.
“I think it’s changed the meaning of the song- the change in lyrics to something that I don’t really know. Now it feels kind of like a made-up issue of this toxic relationship, but I haven’t really gone through that.” She explains.
For Gallagher, this change has been a reminder that songwriting doesn’t always have to come directly from lived experience. She’s still drawn to writing from her own perspective, but she’s open to exploring where fictional narratives may take her.
As she’s experienced, listeners will often bring their own interpretations to a song regardless of what the original intention may have been. She laughs about her own mum hearing the chorus of “WISH” and questioning its darker implications, when Gallagher had intended the lyrics to suggest something far more innocent.
“The lyrics were, ‘give me all that you can, I want to be sick with you’- I was meaning, like, I wanna be living with you in the same house and take care of each other while we have colds.” She explains, “Not like, ‘I want to live in your illness’.”
It’s a funny example of how easily meaning can shift once a song leaves the studio, and Gallagher seems to enjoy that element of unpredictability, and there’s some appeal in knowing that a song can mean something entirely different to the person listening to it than it does to the person who wrote it.
While “WISH” offers a glimpse into her changing sound, Gallagher is careful not to position it as a definitive blueprint for everything that comes next. Other songs she’s been working on are exploring different sounds, she reveals. For now, experimentation is the point.
This sense of discovery will continue onto the road this month, with Gallagher preparing to play a small run of intimate shows, including tonight’s set at CHURCH in Geelong. She’s feeling particularly excited to bring some new songs into the live set, joined by two of her best friends on drums and bass.
Performing has become something she genuinely enjoys, but the reality of putting on shows isn’t as glamorous as it may seem from the outside. Between ticket sales, promotion and the seemingly endless and daunting cycle of social media posts, there’s plenty to navigate before she even steps onto the stage.
“Playing live is a bit scary,” she admits. “But, like, also, it’s fucking awesome. I’m so lucky I get to do it, and it’s sick.”
As for what’s next after this tour, Lotte Gallagher isn’t rushing to define it. Between the evolution of “WISH” and the latest arrival of “LUCKY2LOVE”, she’s allowing herself the space to try new things, change her mind and work out what feels right along the way.
LOTTE GALLAGHER VICTORIAN TOUR DATES
Tickets via lottegallagher.com
Friday 16 October – The Evelyn, Melbourne
Saturday 17 October – Young St Tavern, Frankston
Header image credit: Max Iannantuono
