Kita Alexander On Making Her Debut Album A ‘Journey’ And Its Tour ‘An Experience’

Rising star Kita Alexander started 2024 with a bang, celebrating a #14 spot on triple j’s Hottest 100 for her award-winning collaboration with DJ Fisher on Atmosphere. She struck gold again with her recent collaboration with LAUREL on All Night, an instant pop hit and further proof that Kita is a winning choice for a featured artist. Later this month, Kita will release her highly anticipated debut album, Young In Love, with a tour to follow, partially sold out already.

The artist has had swift and enduring success and connection with her audience as she traverses different genres as an indie pop artist with solid rungs on the board for dance and country also. Blurring the lines with her unique voice and ear for what listeners are looking for, Kita has got the industry converted.

The forthcoming Young In Love album chronicles Kita’s peaks and troughs, from love to hardship and the experiences that have shaped her 27 years. The ten-track album features dance ballads (Queen), heart-warming pieces with country king Morgan Evans (Date Night), and a collection that will have fans learning more about the Byron Bay artist, but also experiencing the album through their own young love experiences and stories.

Kita admits that the direction of the album wasn’t clear to her until she landed on the title, with the common thread and purpose suddenly clear: “I didn't really know what I was writing when I was writing it. It actually took me until I found the title because we were going through different titles and none of them were sitting right, and I hadn't even put words to what the album was about until I found the title.

“And ‘young in love’ is from the chorus in 7 Minutes In Heaven – I found it and I was like, ‘This is it, this is what the collation of songs is about.’ But I find it really curious that it took me finding the name of the title to find out what the album is about. In hindsight, I looked back and said, ‘Oh yeah, wow, I know exactly where I was writing these in the moment’ – pulling back on memories, and where those memories came from.”

If Kita’s songwriting method seems interesting, fans and industry folk might be surprised to learn that it only took Kita four weeks to write the album from top to bottom.

“I gave myself a small amount of time, I didn’t give myself two years or a year of time. I said, ‘I want to write the album in four weeks.’ Really, if I am not getting those songs out in that time, then it's not meant to be. There were only a few songs that didn't make the cut. It all came out and I didn’t really have the time – because I have a family life and stuff – to sit down and go, ‘This is what I want the album to be about.’ And that's what I am most proud of – the songwriting in these songs.”

With the album tipped to be one of the biggest for Australian music in 2024, Kita’s fast songwriting could spell a prolific career for the artists, à la Taylor Swift - which she admits some of her littlest fans have compared her to. Kita laughs “My son goes, ‘Are you the biggest artist in the world?’ and I told him, ‘No, I think Taylor Swift is, but I’m a close second’.”

Queen, 7 Minutes in Heaven, Date Night and Best You Ever Had have already been released from the Young In Love album, with another single to be released before the album drops on March 22.

“I love the songs coming out on the album, and [can’t wait] to see what people gravitate towards because it’s a bit of everything,” Kita says. “It’s kind of like a little betting going on in my head – ‘I think they are going to go for this, but I think this might be the Nonsense song on Sabrina Carpenter’s record’ – when a song just blows up because fans love it. That’s what I am hoping one of these songs will do.”

“I think the record is something that I would listen to front to end, and I would be taken on that journey with the artist. Because I genuinely enjoy listening to the songs.”

2023 was a storied year for the rising star, with Kita clocking an impressive 185 million global streams from her growing catalogue, including two ARIA Gold singles (Damage Done and Like You Want To), and an ARIA Platinum for Between You & I and Hotel, and signed a worldwide management deal with Lemon Tree Music. Behind the growing fandom and huge successes, Kita has been creating and releasing music for close to a decade, admitting that touring is the part that is new to her craft.

Despite Young In Love being her debut, the Young In Love tour will be her second headline show,  being on the line-up for festivals all over Australia throughout the year (headlining FIFA Fan Festival in Brisbane) and having toured in 2023 with Morgan Evans as a special guest at his sold-out Sydney Opera House shows.

“It's funny because I have been releasing music for almost ten years now – I just haven't done the touring because I had kids, took some time away from touring and doing promo and all of that. Even my band thinks I have done more shows than I have done – I should try and count, but it really isn't a lot compared to other artists at my stage. So I feel like I am still finding my feet, finding my groove, but I am having lots of fun up there. If I can move around up there, then that's the best time.”

Triple j punters hoping to see a repeat of Kita’s 2023 Like A Version of Fountains Of Wayne's 2003 hit Stacy's Mom may be in luck, with the Byron Bay artist excited to surprise her fans on the tour.

Kita hinted toward what tour-goers can expect when the tour kicks off in April, saying “If any of my fans have seen a Morgan Evans show, I’m taking a lot of inspiration from his show. I just didn't realise how many cool things you can do; intros, build-ups, cutting out – you know, I’m getting into all of that. It’s going to be an experience, it won't just be some show.”

Kita announces that Jem Cassar-Daley and San Joseph will join the triple j-presented Young In Love National Tour as tour supports which will take place over six days in April. 

It was announced this week that Fisher’s Atmosphere featuring Kita was officially certified GOLD in Australia and was nominated for a Rolling Stone Australia Award for Best Single with the award ceremony taking place on March 26 in Sydney. The video has been viewed over five million times on YouTube, and All Night with LAUREL looks to be headed in a similar trajectory. 

Of the All Night track, Kita says “This song is about having that one friend who is always there for you and can pull you out of dark places. I honestly feel so privileged that LAUREL wanted to come into the studio with me on one of her only days off during her Aussie tour. We’ve always been fans of each other's music.”

The music video, which was released in late February, follows friends (Kita and LAUREL) on a night out, drinking at home, sharing a bathroom and driving, all with a film camera lens and playful nature. Viewers would be forgiven for drawing a HAIM parallel to the harmonising and aesthetic of the artists and their videos, expertly crafted in a way that still honours their own unique styles.

Kita continues, “This song is about having that one friend who is always there for you and can pull you out of dark places. We really play on this sentiment as we alternate line for line in the chorus. On the first listen back we realised our voices actually have a really similar tone, but if you focus you can definitely differentiate us as we tag team the lyrics.”

While there are no collaborations in the work for Kita currently, it’s clear that she is a breakout star not only in her own artistry but as a collaborator or feature for artists that span different genres.

“Fred again.., I really want to work with him. I want to [work with] Calvin Harris... I want to do a lot of features, with me being the feature. Collaboration-wise and duet-wise, I actually feel like I have worked with the people I really want to work with. But Matt Corby... I haven’t mentioned this to him, but I feel like he would be down! I wouldn’t mind a rapper – my husband is really into Aussie hip-hop.”

Young In Love is out on March 22 via Warner Music Australia. Head here for pre-orders and tickets to the accompanying tour.

KITA ALEXANDER

‘YOUNG IN LOVE’ AUSTRALIAN TOUR

Friday, 12 April – Rosemount Hotel, Perth
Saturday, 13 April – Jive, Adelaide
Friday, 19 April – The Zoo, Brisbane
Saturday, 20 April – Oxford Art Factory, Sydney (SOLD OUT)
Friday, 26 April – Corner Hotel, Melbourne (SOLD OUT)
Saturday, 27 April – UC Hub, Canberra