Woodes Explores Her Darker Side On Cinematic New EP “Hibernation” Out Now; Reveals Video for “Heavenly”

Today, one of Australia’s most captivating creative minds, Australian singer-songwriter, Woodes, shares the darker side of her creative persona with new EP Hibernation. Across its four tracks her cinematic approach to music flourishes, as she captures emotion, nostalgia, longing, and hope in dynamic anthems that showcase just how far she can bend and mould her alternative pop soundscapes. Hibernation is now available on all digital platforms HERE.

Where her previous EP Kingdom Come, released in June, was built around lush, spellbinding, hypnotic melodies that reflected the experiences of Elle Graham in this world, Hibernation sees Elle fully embrace the character of her Woodes moniker, amplifying the immersive, cinematic side of her artistry with dark, vivid melodies and sharp, gritty production.

“This is a very pure version of me,” Woodes says. “I was making music with my friend, and I was completely independent. I knew I had to stand behind it with a ‘ride or die’ energy. It felt great when I came out on the other side of everything…She’s coming out of Hibernation into this strong version of herself.”

WATCH & SHARE THE OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO FOR “HEAVENLY”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljufW9vVCp4

A tribal-style percussive groove underscores lead single “Don’t Look Back.” As the beat shuffles forward punctuated by cello, Woodes keeps her head high. “I see the trailer for the Woodes movie in my head,” she says. “It’s a grand vision of the legends before us and going after your dream. It’s gritty and immediate.”

Then, there’s “War Cry” – a call-to-arms for women to stand up in the face of abuse of all kinds. “Abuse doesn’t have to be physical; it can be verbal, subtle manipulation, and bending the truth. Unfortunately, so many of my friends share experiences like this,” Woodes says. “This is my anthem about a girl burning a city down and not taking it anymore.”

The acoustic guitar of EP closer “Heavenly” offers a perfect counterpoint as Woodes’ vocals hover above a whisper – proving that whether she is surrounded by urgent, glitchy production or gently shaped melodies, there is no less fight in her.

“There’s a strength in letting go,” Woodes elaborates. “In the last twelve months, I’ve made big leaps in my career and my life. This felt like the right way to close it.”

In the end, Woodes offers up a soundtrack listeners can lean on eternally. “I love when I find music that inspires me or becomes my own soundtrack,” she says. “I hope I can write songs to accompany your soundtrack in life. If the music becomes part of your memories, there would be nothing better.”

Woodes released her independent, self-titled debut EP in 2016, gaining audiences both in Australia and internationally.  Since then, she’s toured with the likes of Thelma Plum, Asgier, and Sylvan Esso and appeared at festivals, including Splendour in the Grass, SXSW and Beyond the Valley, amongst headline tours of her own. Her cinematic 2018 EP Golden Hour spawned two triple j favorites, “Dots” and “Run For It,” both arriving on the back of the hugely popular collaboration with Set Mo – “I Belong Here” – which has been certified Platinum in Australia.

Woodes leveled up again on Crystal Ball in 2020. It not only landed at #3 on the Australian Independent Albums Chart, but NME rated it 4-out-of-5 stars and hailed it as “a powerfully intimate record that tackles both life and fantasy with fierce resolve.”

In her own work throughout this time, Woodes continued to merge music and fashion, incorporating her stylistic influences into her music and the worlds she builds around it. In music videos, she conceptualised how to bring stories to life. On the live stage, she was compared to contemporaries such as Bjork, AURORA, Arctic Lake, and Mr. Little Jeans through her larger-than-life costume design.

During the Pandemic, Elle found herself at the end of a long relationship, she departed Melbourne for Brisbane and collaborated in the studio with friend Danny Harley (The Kite String Tangle). That is where both Kingdom Come and Hibernation were born.