NEW MUSIC: ALICE COTTON
TRACK TITLE: MY TURN
SINGLE RELEASE DATE: FRIDAY 4 NOVEMBER
LABEL: INDEPENDENT / DITTO
Straight outta Darwin, queer alt-country artist Alice Cotton reveals new single 'My Turn’, produced by Nick Huggins, off forthcoming EP.
+ debut EP release 2023
+ Naarm (Melbourne) launch show 16 November
“Cotton has the quality that Paul Kelly and Stella Donnelly have whereby it seemingly feels like she’s narrating the mundane moment in life and relationships that we’ve all been through and then – POW – you’re hit with the depth and breadth of her storytelling” – Nkechi Anele, triple j
‘My Turn’ is an alt-country song from NT queer indie artist Alice Cotton and was produced by Nick Huggins.
Ahead of the release of her much-anticipated self-titled debut EP, Darwin alternative artist Alice Cotton is thrilled to release the first single ‘My Turn’. Fresh off a top 10 placement in NT’s Territory Sounds Countdown and a finalist placement for the inaugural Australian Folk Music Awards, Cotton is carving up the country’s regional music scene with her infectious and off-kilter blend of folk, alt-country and indie-rock. Audiences are drawn in by Alice’s playful banter paired with stunning vocals and introspective lyrics about family dogs, queer love, and a constant longing for food.
Based in Darwin, Cotton has a national reach, bringing together a slew of Aussie music legends for the first single, ‘My Turn’. A collaborative track with industry heavy-weights Nick Huggins (Alice Skye, Jen Cloher) and Holly Thomas (Quivers, HUSKY) ‘My Turn’, out November 4, is a self-assured statement about stepping into ownership of your creativity.
Cotton explains “My bass player was running late for rehearsal when I started playing around with these very open and resonant chords. I loved the expansive feeling and I started improvising these lyrics about wanting to take up creative space, while she rushed around feeding the puppy and tuning her bass.
It came out as this self-declaration that I choose to carve out time for bringing my ideas to life - for their own sake, because it feels good and important, and I don’t want to have to justify it beyond that.
The more I pursue music the more I feel disempowered and boggled by the industry. This song is about claiming space to be an artist and a writer and that I do it for my own sake and for the sake of being creative, not to play the game. So it’s about defiance and staying grounded - I do this because I have something to say. I want to be like Mavis Staples, old and joyful, pushing into my 80s and writing and performing again and again”
Emanating Nick Huggins’ renowned warmth in sound, ‘My Turn’ was recorded live (with minimal overdubs for vocal harmonies), capturing a great live band vibe with Cotton’s characteristic vocals. This style of recording provided a sweet relief for Cotton whose previous singles were painstakingly recorded over several months via email and cloud folders thanks to the pandemic.
The first of these remote recordings, Cotton’s debut single ‘Sleeping Dogs’ and accompanying Auslan-interpreted film-clip garnered strong radio play including a triple j premiere, regular play on the likes of 2SER, 8CCC, ABC Darwin and Alice Springs, and a finalist nomination for the 2021 Fist Full of Film’s Music Video Award.
“Cotton pens a beautifully tender and emotive track inviting us into her reflection” - Steph Liong - Tone Deaf, on 'Sleeping Dogs'
Her follow-up single ‘You Drive a Hilux’ , paired with an outback NT tour, continued to garner strong community radio and audience support for her music, listed twice in Tone Deaf as top Australian music picks for community radio and added on high-rotation to SYN FM, as well as play across double j, RTR FM, PBS FM, 2RRR, 2DRYFM, Edge Radio, Radio Adelaide, 5tripleZ and JOY 94.9 FM, and a feature on Brian Nankervis (RocKwiz)’s national ABC radio show Songs and Stories.
DOWNLOAD ‘MY TURN’ AUDIO + ARTWORK + PRESS SHOTS’
Born and raised in the tropical north of Australia, Alice Cotton would write songs as a child about her everyday world; mouldy pillows and fly-screen doors. She left for Melbourne to study classical music, and then, a Masters of Music Therapy. Cotton returned home to the NT seven years later and embedded herself in community, running a pub choir through Big Community Sing!, performing at Darwin Festival, and producing sell-out LGBTQIA+ events for Darwin Fringe Festival.
And it’s not just about her own music. The community-minded artist was the recent recipient of an Arts Access Award, commending for her work providing professional development and creative performance workshops for disabled and neuro-diverse musicians in Darwin.
Cotton is spending 2022/23 releasing singles off the EP (supported by ArtsNT) backed by a national tour with a run of regional shows from late 2023. Locally, you can catch Cotton co-writing with award-winning folk-country artist Dave Garnham, or playing in post-punk feminist outfit The Ovulators, or at her Melbourne launch show on 16 November with FJ Steele.
“A Territory hit”
NT News
“Sweeping, intimate, melancholy vibes”
FROOTY Magazine, on Sleeping Dogs
“Alice has delivered a song that resonates with NT nostalgia”
Benjamin Erin - Tone Deaf, on You Drive a Hilux
“a nuanced way of viewing the world has clearly produced an artist and performer of rare qualities ... Alice’s approach is insightful”
Foldback Media
Photograph of Alice Cotton, by Raych Younger. An image of a white woman with curly auburn hair and red lipstick. She is gazing at the camera and is wearing a floral orange corduroy shirt. In the background is a maroon wooden door.
My Turn Track Credits
Written by Alice Cotton. Produced by Nick Huggins.
Alice Cotton - guitars, vocals
Holly Thomas - drums, percussion
Tim Baker – bass, guitars
Phoebe Stretton-Smith - vocals
Stefanie Zappino – vocals
Zoë Kalenderidis - vocals
Nick Huggins - recording, mixing, mastering
Callum Elliot - track artwork (detail)
Graphic design by CJ Fraser-Bell.
