A sparkling new chapter is imminent for Melbourne/Naarm indie pop artist Tilly Fenton, with a punchy new single ‘It’s You!’ out in the world today, and the announcement of her anticipated debut EP it’s a feeling that i know set for release on October 10.
Playful, effervescent and with some charmingly gritty rock edges around the gloss within, ‘It’s You!’ showcases Tilly’s expansive nuance as a songwriter, capturing her cheeky, fun side while also embracing some iconic pop icons and a soundtrack-inspired modus operandi for the end result. “Olivia Rodrigo’s music definitely had a huge influence on the sound for this song,” shares Tilly. “Ever since her first album came out, I had always wanted to write a super upbeat, angsty and playful pop rock song after hearing ‘good 4 u’ for the first time when I was in high school. It feels pretty full circle considering this was the music I was listening to, while I was going through the experiences that inspired ‘It’s You!’ Another artist that shaped the sound of this song was Hannah Montana and the early Miley Cyrus music. I was so obsessed with the Hannah TV show and movie growing up, so a lot of the music from it was engraved in my brain from a very young age. I had always wanted to write a guitar driven song with punchy hooks and confident, cheeky lyrics, so I definitely channelled my inner Hannah for ‘It’s You!’”
Marking an exciting step closer to the release of her first-ever EP, ‘It’s You!’ also balances its upbeat stylings with relatable and immersive storytelling, with Tilly delivering an empowering ode to standing up for yourself on her latest track, as she elaborates, “’It’s You!’ is about that one person who really gets under your skin. It’s a love letter to the kind of people who twist things, make you question yourself, and somehow turn you into the villain. It’s that moment you stop biting your tongue and finally say what you should’ve said ages ago, with just the right amount of pettiness “my co-star said you’re hurt because you picked a fight with your best friend”. It’s playful, dramatic and weirdly healing screaming “it’s not me, it’s you!”
Initially penning ‘It’s You!’ during a session with Anna Laverty (Lady Gaga, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds), Tilly sought to write “a vengeful yet cathartic song”, with the pair brainstorming lyrics that ultimately led to a discussion of the common saying: “it’s not you, it’s me”. “I thought it would be fun to reword it to “it’s not me, it’s you”,” Tilly explains. “I then brought this song to my producer Michael Belsar and my drummer Ben Ellingworth and started the recording process, and we all had so much fun experimenting with different sounds. Michael and I then spent more time on the song, and it continued to evolve into what it is today.”
