On Intimidating Audiences And Accidentally Making A Pop Record

Having come off touring with that’s taken her away from her base in Melbourne, Olivia Bartley's now swinging into promo for her debut solo record as Olympia, Self Talk. The hectic schedule mirrors the heady swirl of intellectual pop, putting her amongst the likes of St Vincent, Sia and Blood Orange in the way she smuggles complex and nuanced big ideas into tight, infectious electropop.

Coming from a folkier background, Olympia is a pretty significant break with where Bartley has been before. “I’d always played music and written, as well as done design work, so work was always happening,” she explains. “But I didn’t want people to see my name on a bill and think ‘oh, let’s go see how Olivia Bartley feels today', she laughs. “These songs aren’t autobiographical. I’ve been learning about design theory and wanted to bring that to music, so while the songs are a bit personal, they’re coming from more of a conceptual perspective.”

The new moniker of Olympia comes from Manet’s then-controversial and bold portrait of an unashamed nude, and the songs are all equally referential, with everyone from Carl Sagan to Jenny Holzer popping up in lyrical asides. “I’m drawn to people who are process driven. I see an article and start thinking about it as a metaphor for something about the human condition, and then a song happens. So what happens is all marked by process,” she enthuses, before worrying she’s “laying on the artspeak” too thick. She needn’t worry, though; despite the litany of ideas pinballing around, Self Talk is anything but exclusive or exclusionary, with the densely layered hooks on tracks like Honey being well and truly stadium-sized. All according to plan, Bartley says. “My hope is that it feels like it’s all accidentally fallen into a pop record! The songs are the most important thing. It might sound poppy, but I hope that someone who accepts it as a pop song might fall for one of the lyrics.”
The record is also another notch in the belt of indie superproducer, Burke Reid, and Bartley describes the end result as a collaboration through and through. “I had no idea what a producer did when I started; people told me to go home and think of my favourite records, and see who produced them, and they were all by Burke! Love Is Gone by Jack Ladder, the Drones, Holly Throsby, all artists I love, but each album had a unique voice, he doesn’t make them sound the same. It’s an incredible undertaking, I don’t know how he does it, but that’s what makes him so good.” Other collaborators included Sydney pop wunderkind Jonny Benet on drums. “I have the luxury of being able to be proud of the record because my collaborators were so fantastic; we all played a lot and pushed each other, some things worked, some didn’t, but it was such a pleasure, and so many of the elements that came out were a surprise.”

That isn’t the only thing on her plate at the moment, though; she’s also a prolific touring musician, having just come off supporting Paul Dempsey on a national jaunt. Though it’s a high-pressure gig, taking a back seat has been a relief. “It’s been great to just enjoy playing music instead of driving it, but it’s quite intimidating to play with him! His audiences are so reverent, they just study every second, and his work is complex – he’s an incredible songwriter.” With Self Talk out in the world now, Bartley could say the same for herself.

Originally published in X-Press Magazine