Ella Hooper has announced her next studio album ‘Overnight Success’, alongside the release of the deeply personal new single ‘When The Shit Went Down’, with a national Australian tour beginning in October.
by Paul Cashmere
Ella Hooper has confirmed that her new studio album Overnight Success will be released on October 2, with the former Killing Heidi frontwoman also unveiling the new single When The Shit Went Down. The announcement is accompanied by plans for a national album launch tour that will take in seven Australian cities across October, beginning in Eltham before visiting Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide, Newcastle, Sydney and Canberra.
The new single marks the latest chapter in Hooper’s evolution as a solo artist, continuing the Americana direction she has explored in recent years. Recorded in Nashville, When The Shit Went Down draws on personal experiences that Hooper says were still unfolding while she was writing and recording the song.
“It feels scary and amazing to be sharing such a personal track as a single,” Hooper said. “A blow by blow of some of the crazy shit me and my family went through in the last few years. I feel liberated, exhilarated, proud, wobbly, emotional, staunch. It might just be my favourite song off the album.”
The recording reunited Hooper with Australian born, Nashville based producer LOLLIES and featured sessions with local musicians and engineers, including Jon Estes and guitarist Trevor Bahnson. Hooper said Bahnson’s Byrds-inspired 12-string guitar became a defining part of the recording.
“I’m always chasing an aesthetic that I call ‘shitty shimmer’, which basically means that the sound or song is rough but beautiful,” she said. “When a song cracks open for you in the studio, there’s no better feeling.”
The 11-track Overnight Success continues Hooper’s move into country and Americana while retaining elements of the songwriting that first established her career. The album follows Small Town Temple, released in 2023, which debuted at No. 1 on the Australian Country chart and reflected her growing connection with Nashville, where she now spends part of each year.
Hooper first came to prominence as the lead singer of Killing Heidi, whose debut album Reflector became one of Australia’s defining releases of the early 2000s after the success of the breakthrough single Weir. The band collected four ARIA Awards, while Hooper became the first woman and the youngest recipient of APRA’s Songwriter of the Year award in 2001.
Since launching her solo career, Hooper has broadened her musical palette through rock, folk, country and Americana. She said the new album represents another step in that creative journey despite the challenges of making an independent record.
“I’ve been itching to announce and release this album,” she said. “Trying to stay calm through delays, changes of team, a few one step forward two steps back moments, which I’m learning are just par for the course for an independent self-managed muso. I’m ecstatic that it’s coming into focus now.”
Hooper also said performing the new material live has become a major focus.
“Playing live is my happy place and what I feel I do best,” she said. “When I have a brand new album to tour, create a detailed world with and really curate the evening to reflect that, that’s the best version of touring to me.”
She added that multiple trips to Nashville helped shape the album and reinforced her connection with Americana.
“I worked really hard on this record, took risks and fought for things. It definitely feels like a level up in my writing. I’m not an easy act to pigeonhole, but I feel like myself on this record.”
Tour Dates
Thursday 1 October, Eltham, The Eltham
Friday 2 October, Brisbane, Black Bear Lodge
Saturday 3 October, Melbourne, Brunswick Ballroom
Sunday 4 October, Adelaide, Trinity Sessions
Thursday 8 October, Newcastle, Stag & Hunter
Friday 9 October, Sydney, Petersham Bowlo
Saturday 10 October, Canberra, Smiths Alternative
Support: Ruby Mae
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