In Conversation With Stella Donnelly

How does a singer from one of the most isolated parts of the world become an internationally recognized singer-songwriter by her mid-20s? That artist is Stella Donnelly. For Stella Donnelly, the journey was a mixture of serendipity, talent, and hard work, involving many years of playing covers in bars, releasing a locally distributed EP, and writing a single about sexual abuse at the start of a social reckoning. Stella Donnelly’s radiant personality, catchy hooks, and gripping guitar riffs helped her debut album, Beware of the Dogs, stand out in 2019. On it was her standout hit Boys Will Be Boys that took the world by storm the year before. After years on the road, she returned to Australia. Only this time, the pandemic kept her inside in several towns and cities throughout the country as lockdowns spread in 2020. These moments of deep stillness and self-reflection resulted in her sophisticated sophomore album, Flood. Prioritizing the piano over the guitar, the songs on Flood take on a more meditative state and find Stella exercising the depths of her vocals more prominently. Three years later, Stella Donnelly is back with her highly anticipated third album, Love and Fortune. This album serves as the basis of our conversation today. More specifically, our conversation features Stella reflecting on her previous projects, almost quitting music, the inspiration for her third album, her love for the piano and guitar, and much more.