New Yorkers, Charly Bliss, will be ticking off their number one item on their bucket list this July – visit Australia! Yes, the power-pop foursome will fulfil a lifelong dream as they make their debut down under as part of the Splendour In The Grass 2019 family, playing sideshows in both Sydney and Melbourne.
“We’ve wanted to come to Australia for years and year. Growing up, Sam [Hendricks] and my aunt and uncle own a bagel store in North Carolina and so many of the people who worked for them were from Australia. Everyone we would meet from Australia was so wonderful and kind and warm-hearted and hilarious, and just because of that I’ve always thought of it as this mystical place where everyone is awesome,” reminisces vocalist, Eva Hendricks.
The appearance comes only months after the release of their second album, ‘Young Enough’, a confetti-driven celebration of sound with a dark underlying context that draws inspiration from two of 2017’s most gut-wrenching albums, ‘Rainbow’ by Kesha, and Lorde’s ‘Melodrama’.
“[Melodrama] broke my heart and it kills me to listen to that record because it’s so good and she just so perfectly articulates some many experiences of not only having your heart broken seriously for the first time, but I also think of a very feminine experience of love and of experiencing massive emotion which I think is something I really relate to and something I wanted to translate into our own album,” Hendricks says.
The emotional arc in ‘Young Enough’, however, derives from traumatic personal events that Hendricks experienced of sexual assault and abuse from a previous partner, something she has been very candid about not only lyrically, which is especially evident on track, ‘Hurt Me’, but also in interviews and with fans.
“I think what was so bizarre about that entire experience for me is that usually, it’s very easy for me to talk to people about stuff that I’m going through. If I’m struggling with something it’s very easy for me to seek help and I have a really strong support system… For whatever reason this experience that I had which I understand to be very common, I just totally buried it and I didn’t want to talk to anyone about it. I didn’t even want to admit to myself that it happened,” admits Hendricks.
“So much of making this record was about eliminating that element of shame that I felt and taking control of the narrative and just saying that this thing that happened to me is not my fault that it happened. I kind of needed to create my own celebration and not just an album that was really sad. I didn’t necessarily feel sad. I feel like writing about this made me feel strong and I kind of needed to write songs that reflected that and there is no better music than going fucking nuts to some all-out pop. I feel so relieved and so happy and a tremendous amount of gratitude and really empowered by what this album has brought about for us. It’s created a conversation in my life in so many different ways that I don’t think would have come about otherwise.”
Hendricks strength is a quality that further translates on stage with the over-the-top energy of Charly Bliss and the front woman’s consciously styled out-there fashion choices.
“Clothing is super important and something I thought a lot about specifically for this record. When I’m on stage I feel like superhero version of myself. In my real life, I struggle with feeling insecure… Something that is really incredible about being on stage is that it’s kind of this weird high where I total forget all of that and I feel really powerful and, like, beautiful – not in terms of the way I look but inside I feel really strong and wonderful.”
You can witness the power and bold outfits of Charly Bliss live at The Curtin, Melbourne on Friday 19 July ahead of Splendour in the Grass.
Written by Tammy Walters
Photo by Ebru Yildiz
