The Melbourne-based songwriter, Gena Rose Bruce, today releases a single, ‘Foolishly In Love’, co-written with the iconic songwriter Bill Callahan.
During Melbourne’s extended lockdown, which was one of the longest in the world, the Australian Music Prize-nominated Gena Rose Bruce began turning inwards and shutting down around friends and family. Her close relationships felt laboured and her responses in social interactions insincere. She even began questioning her commitment to her partner. These anxieties bubbled over into fantasies about the thrill of new romance with unflinching honesty on the dance-floor ready track. “I was asking myself: ‘am I meant for one sort of relationship?’,” says Bruce. “I think it’s an important question to ask, to really just have a frank conversation about those feelings.” Gena’s aching vocals on the subject are front and centre, backed by her own brand of smoky indie rock.
Throughout the same shutdown, Bruce corresponded with the iconic songwriter Bill Callahan. “Working with Bill was very poetic and brought a feeling of nostalgia. We have only ever had written correspondence, sending lyrics back and forth to each other, with sometimes weeks in between responses, just analysing lyrics, there was no small talk, just keeping it about what’s important – the music.”