Ella Hooper is saddling up for another glorious ride into her Americana era, unveiling new single Cowboy Man (out today), the fourth taste of her highly anticipated fourth solo album Overnight Success, due for release October 2.
A swooning, seductive slice of country-rock with a healthy dose of Ella’s trademark wit, Cowboy Man finds the Australian music icon leaning all the way into the dusty saloons, neon lights and romantic mythology of the American West. Equal parts flirtatious, cinematic and mischievous, it’s Ella Hooper at her most brazen, another sparkling glimpse into the richly textured world she has created across Overnight Success.
Where previous singles Growing Up Is Hard To Do, I Got Eyes (On You) and When The Shit Went Down have revealed different sides of Ella’s new musical chapter, Cowboy Man kicks open the saloon doors with a little more swagger.
“Cowboy Man is one of those songs that when it landed in my brain I laughed out loud. I’m having fun with and poking fun at the whole cowboy cowgirl country pop culture explosion, as I’m aware it is having quite the moment,” says Ella. “but as always there’s a kernel of truth to my silliness.. I have had some funny experiences on my several trips to Nashville where I headed to record this album, thinking surely I will find my dreamboat; ethical, self-made, preferably air sign, good-hearted, rugged-looking, old fashioned but thoroughly woke cowboy husband (..what?! I’m not asking for much!) ha, but sad to say, it hasn’t happened yet. I keep coming home empty-handed, still single, but with this great song in tow, so – it actually feels like I got the prize!”
Paired with an equally hilarious film clip, Ella explains, “This film clip was such a hoot to make! I had the idea that I could hold cowboy auditions and collaborated with Lizzie Bailey the director and Lauren Simpson as producer – who I met through a cameo role on ‘The Witchy Girls’ Ywhich is a hysterical show about teenage witches created by and starring Australian Drag Royalty, current winner of Ru Paul’s Drag Race Down Under, ‘Lazy Susan’ who I am a HUGE fan of! Lazy returned the cameo favour and joined in the madness of my cowboy auditions. We pulled together an amazing array of ‘cow people’, some of which are my real life buddies from Melbourne bands, some are drag superstars, some are incredible actors – some are crew member’s parents! It was a real group effort and a very funny, silly, so grateful-for-my-creative-community kinda day!”
The forthcoming album Overnight Success is a record built on contrast: intimate stories dressed in shimmering Americana, deep personal reflection sitting comfortably beside humour, swagger and songs that are fit for a Sunday arvo, and for the Saturday night dancefloor. Across its 11 tracks, Ella explores heartbreak, family, growing older, desire, resilience and the absurdity of being human – all through a distinctly Australiana-Americana lens and with her irreverent spirit firmly intact.
And if Overnight Success has a recurring philosophy, it might be that the glitter and the grit belong together.
“I’ve been itching to announce and release this album,” shares Ella, “trying to stay calm through delays, changes of team, a few one step forward two steps back moments; which I’m learning is just par for the course for an independent self-managed muso…but I’m just ecstatic that it’s coming into sharp focus now, and that in a mere month or so those who’ve been following along will get to explore all of ‘Overnight Success’, and hopefully so will a few new folks too”
An undisputed icon in the Australian music scene, Ella Hooper’s acclaimed career has seen her tick off a #1 album, sold out tours, multiple award wins, Rolling Stone covers, radio and TV hosting, and hit singles along the way that helped shape and shift the course of Australian pop culture forever. Fronting Killing Heidi and catapulting into superstardom with their debut single Weir, the group would go on to take home four ARIA Awards for their 2000 debut full-length Reflector, while Ella herself went on to become the first-ever female, and youngest person, to receive APRA’s Songwriter of the Year Award in 2001.
Ultimately releasing three studio albums with Killing Heidi, Ella later branched out into an equally acclaimed solo career, seamlessly pivoting away from her heavier roots into synth folk, rock, country and Americana. Most recently, Ella released Small Town Temple in 2023, which showcased Ella’s love and proficiency for country and Americana, and also debuted at #1 on the Australian Country chart. Splitting her time between Nashville and Melbourne, with her upcoming album Overnight Success also calling Nashville home for much of its creation, Ella is now set to wow Australian crowds later this year, hitting the road for a special album launch tour this October.
“Playing live is my happy place and what I feel I do best,” shares Ella. “I’m a bit of a tried and tested road dog now, but to have my OWN album tour to create a world with, to really curate the evening, is the best version of touring to me.”
Entering a new chapter of her creative journey with the upcoming release of Overnight Success, Ella Hooper resoundingly cements her status as one of the most enduring and endearing artists of her era on album #4. And, as she explains, she has truly found her voice and her home in the Americana realm.
“I worked really hard on this record,” shares Ella, “took risks and fought for things, sent myself broke making it over multiple trips to Nashville, but also met some incredible talents along the way and I couldn’t be more confident and stoked with the end result. Worth every sleepless night and grey hair!”
“It definitely feels like a level up, in my writing especially,” Ella concludes. “I’m exploring my voice and my relationship to Americana, the sounds, the genre, it’s parameters. I’m not an easy act to pigeonhole; but God I feel like myself on this record!”
Cowboy Man is out today.
Overnight Success is set for release October 2.
ELLA HOOPER – OVERNIGHT SUCCESS TOUR DATES:
Supported by Ruby Mae
THU 01 OCT – THE ELTHAM, ELTHAM NSW
FRI 02 OCT - BLACK BEAR LODGE, BRISBANE
SAT 03 OCT - BRUNSWICK BALLROOM, MELBOURNE VIC
SUN 04 OCT - TRINITY SESSIONS, ADELAIDE
THU 08 OCT - STAG & HUNTER, NEWCASTLE
FRI 09 OCT - PETERSHAM BOWLO, SYDNEY NSW
SAT 10 OCT - SMITHS ALTERNATIVE, CANBERRA ACT
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