Clare Bowditch can recall many nights falling asleep to the sounds of Queenscliff Music Festival at her aunty Gail\u2019s house as a child.<\/p>\n
A nostalgic \u201csecond home\u201d for the ARIA-award winning artist, Bowditch last performed at QMF in 2007 with Paul Kelly and Gotye. Bowditch, who still has a commemorative beer coaster from the event, will take the stage as one of the headlining artists at this year\u2019s Low Light Queenscliff.<\/p>\n
But her long-awaited return to the tour bus isn\u2019t the only proclamation exciting fans. Seven years since the release of her last studio album, The Winter I Chose Happiness, Bowditch has announced she will put out a new record early next year.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s about bloody time. It\u2019s been many years in-between albums,\u201d laughs Bowditch, 44.<\/p>\n
Juggling motherhood, the business world and the creative process of her impending book, Your Own Kind of Girl \u2013 which will be released in October \u2013 Bowditch always knew she\u2019d one day get back to the recording studio.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was never worried I wouldn\u2019t get back on. I continued to write songs during that time \u2013 probably about 250 over the last seven years. Most of them are half-finished or not fit for public consumption,\u201d she jokes.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut the muse never wavered. I always have a lot of curiosity which is the basis of my song writing. I did wonder whether I had the energy to do what we are doing now (touring), but my mojo is back.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bowditch\u2019s latest single, Woman, an anthem to the female race about selflove and empowerment, was released earlier this year.<\/p>\n
Written in 2014 upon returning home from a night-out with her girlfriends, Bowditch believes despite its inception date, the lyrics and overriding message of the track is still relevant in today\u2019s media-saturated society.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was written on a cheeky school night out with the ladies and when you are desperate to get out of the house, you tend not to waste a second. We got right down to the nuts and bolts of what life is about,\u201d she remembers.<\/p>\n
\u201cI heard these emotional, brilliant women suffering the same worries I do. I don\u2019t know if it was the gin martini speaking, but I got home, and it just came out all in a rush.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bowditch, who\u2019s been a longstanding advocate for women\u2019s rights in the workplace and in the community, says conversations about females have formed the centre-point of most of her appearances on the ABC\u2019s Q&A as well as on stage.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think these things are fairly eternal, but our conversation is really maturing and will continue to mature, too,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just something that\u2019s always been part of my conversations. My quest with song writing hasn\u2019t changed \u2013 to be true, but hopeful.\u201d<\/p>\n
A little cryptic in revealing the theme of her next album, in true Bowditch style,her new record will draw on her own experiences using a no-frills and raw approach.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe (artists) often write stories about the height of the love affair or the very end of the love affair, but in the middle
\nthere\u2019s a whole generation of us with youngish families and very few songs tell our stories \u2013 that might be the theme,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
Clare Bowditch will be performing at Low Light Queenscliff on Friday June 21 at Queenscliff Town Hall. Tickets on sale now via lowlightqueenscliff.com.au.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Clare Bowditch can recall many nights falling asleep to the sounds of Queenscliff Music Festival at her aunty Gail\u2019s house as a child. A nostalgic \u201csecond home\u201d for the ARIA-award winning artist, Bowditch last performed at QMF in 2007 with Paul Kelly and Gotye. Bowditch, who still has a commemorative beer coaster from the event, […]<\/p>\n