Katy Steele’s debut solo record Human has been a long time in the making. Having scrapped two previous attempts over the course of four years living in New York, the former Little Birdy singer returned to Australia to finally bring this debut effort together, built of her frustrating but valuable experiences over the past few years.

“Some of the tunes were written in Perth on a clunky upright in my parents front room,” she says of the album’s influences, “some were written in an underground studio in Dumbo, Brooklyn. This debut really is a snapshot of the last few years of my life.”

Now splitting her time between Melbourne and Perth, the album was recorded in Perth’s Rada Studios by local producer Matt Gio (Rudimental, Troy Sivan), and mixed by Eric J (Flume, Wafia, Chet Faker).

“It’s a really homely looking studio equipped with every type of toy you could ever need,” Katy says. “As soon as I walked in, I knew I was going to record there. Seeing a mellotron in the collection was a game changer for me, as it’s def one of my favourite instruments.

“There is also a collection of analog vintage synths. There were three or so different upright pianos. What attracted me to the studio in the first place was the huge live room.”

With the album finally available now, Katy has taken us inside the tumultuous writing process below.

Human Track By Track

DIAMONDS

I originally wrote this song as an a capella but once I started tinkering I added the chorus and the middle eight and made it more of a standard song arrangement. But initially I was just super inspired by the power of having just this melody sung with a bunch of layers.

I had recorded this song a few times already in NYC so once I got in the studio in Perth, I knew it had to evolve the right way. I couldn’t repeat what I’d done in NY. So the tribal influence of those big kicks felt right and by that time I was heavily into experimenting with vocal production also. I wanted it to have a futuristic vibe along side the gospel influence.

WHERE’S THE LAUGHTER

The lyrics really are about absorbing the moment you are in, which a lot of us forget to do most of the time. The Lennon quote “Life is what happens when your busy making other plans” sums it up well.

I started writing this song in Melbourne then added some bits in NYC then finished the arrangement in Perth. So by the time we started recording I really leaned on producer Matt Gio to help me try to find some freshness in the song as I really didn’t quite know exactly how I wanted this one to feel.

I relied on him to help me see it from a different place. I knew I wanted to chorus to be all about those piano chords but the rest wasn’t set in my head at all. This was the first song we recorded together and it really helped set the bar for our vision production-wise.

NO SLAVE 

I had an upright set up in the front room of my parents home and one night Ben Witt and I started messing around with those piano chords. At first we were just joking around with the lyrical content and thought it’d be kinda fun to have such abrasive lyrics. He kinda left the song to me to finish it off in my own time and after a few roundabout tries it came together.

It took a long time in the studio to get this one sounding how it does but I’m so happy with the finished version. This track really combines everything I wanted to do production wise with the album.

PLAY THE GAME

I wrote this song on piano and I think originally I intended it to be a a lot more sparse than what it is. When you hear it just played solo on piano, it’s quite a spooky melody and it has a really dark undertone. Once we were in the studio, I remember Gio and I just spent like 12 hours trying to find the right flavour for this one. It just wasn’t sitting right.

I remember I had a ticket to Rodriguez but I sold my ticket a few hours before so we could stay working. It was a hot summer’s night and finally around 7.30 pm after about 12 hours we struck gold.

IT AIN’T ME

I guess this song is kinda like the centre piece of the record. The day I wrote this one, really was the moment when I knew I had tapped into the right flavor for the album. I never thought I would release a song that only had two chords, but the way it moves and the simplicity just felt so right.

This one again came together so well in the studio and we had to work hard to find that relaxed yet constrained feeling. It had to have a real cool party vibe.

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SIGNAL TO YOU

This song in it’s essence is about asking for help when you need it. Again, that vulnerability is present lyrically. I also took such a long time to finish this album as I was incredibly hard on myself to make something meaningful with purpose and intent. So the verse lyrics really touch on that struggle I was facing.

‘I wanna feel like we’re moving, feel like we’re making progress. But I wake up and feel it just history repeating.’

You know, for a while there, I felt like I was in groundhog day as I just couldn’t get out of my slump. So it’s an incredible feeling for me to be putting this record out, whilst being so proud of it.

RESCUE BOAT

This would have to be one track I’m the most proud of. Something about it, just sums up where I’ve been. Every time I sing this song live, I am transported back to the place I was, when I wrote this one. I’m so happy with the production on this one too. It went miles above where I thought we could take it.

LASERS

I’d say a lot of the songs on ‘Human’ really beg that question of survival and just trying to making it through. Trying to get where you wanna end up. I’ve been through a fair bit in the last few years trying to get this record the way I wanted it, so this song relates to what I was fighting for.

‘All the things I want, they making me burst at the seams’

EVERYWHERE WITH YOU

I’d say this is one of the more positive songs on the record. Lyrically it touches on finding someone you respect and nurturing that relationship. Basically it’s a real simple love song with some serious cinematic climaxes.

I really wanted this one to just stay sparse and punchy and let the simplicity shine through. This was the last track we recorded for the album and by that time we had really explored a bunch of ideas and got this one finished really quickly.

‘So see
We’re the ones that grow
You touch my backbone and I reach for words
And there’s no higher plain that I could place you on
You tilt my head higher
Seasons I know’

LONELY 

I distinctly remember writing this song which is rare because that never happens. I wrote this one in the family underground studio called the dungeon. It was written very quickly and I knew as those chords were being formed that this song would end up on the record. I could feel it.

I know now that being vulnerable and showing weakness isn’t a downfall but a strength. This is definitely one of the most honest songs on the record.

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