Boys Will Be Boys

We first heard about Stella Donnelly when Lukas and I were wandering around Fremantle, Western Australia a few years ago and went into a record shop. We got chatting to the retailer and we asked if he could recommend anything brilliant and new. He immediately picked up a copy of Stella’s EP ‘Thrush Metal’ which was on the counter and started waxing lyrical. We bought it on the spot and listened to loads on that particular visit to WA.

The following year, we had the pleasure of sharing a stage with Stella at Billy Bragg’s ‘Songwriters in the round’, at Glastonbury Festival. When she performed this song, I looked out into the crowd – there were so many people weeping. One woman was a complete mess. She sang every word with tears pouring down her face. It was an intensely powerful and emotional moment. Stella does not mince her words when speaking on the subject of abuse. By way of making our recording different from the original, I came up with a piano part and Lukas added some bowed double bass.