Sir Jude is an Australian singer/ songwriter and producer from Melbourne. She takes great inspiration from FKA Twigs’ bravery with intervals, to St. Vincent’s edginess and The Weeknd’s pop sensibility.

Embodying love, self-hood, heartbreak and hope, Sir Jude's music is a modern timewarp – a discovery of raw emotion through sensuality and imagination. It is cinematic pop that is hard to ignore. With a heavy visual focus, Sir Jude immerses us into her world, described as the sonic love  child of James Bond and pop-grunge tones.

This single contributes to the visual story that culminates her pending debut album, Revelations, a body of work that represents a sonic journey of unravelling internalised misogyny and discovery of the self, pushing the boundaries of pop with lyrical prowess in its stride.

Thanks so much for talking to us, were you always surrounded by music from a young age and what inspired you to become a singer/songwriter?

Thank you! It’s so great to chat with you. I was surrounded by a lot of music as a kid, but I wasn’t forced into the space itself. My dad is a huge KISS fan and he listened to a whole bunch of music from Led Zeppelin to the Beatles and so on. As a kid he taught himself to play drums and he was a in a few bands. Part of his passion was sharing it with me and my sisters, so I learnt to be passionate about music through him. 

I didn’t really understand writing as an artform and like my dad, I eventually just taught myself and realised it was something I might be able to. I have very distinct memories as a kid searching - on dial up - info about “song makers” because I didn’t know what production was. Over time I learnt more and more and started to get somewhat good at it. People around me were excited about what I was doing so I thought, maybe I can do this.

Over the years, how would you say that your songwriting and music have changed? 

I’ve become unapologetic. I now write what I need to say as opposed to what I think I should say. It makes all the difference. My confidence as an artist and the way I understand myself has changed because I’m being honest. I remember being embarrassed about people listening to my music because I knew deep down, I had more to give. 

The music I’m writing now feels good on my skin. It feels good to perform. It feels like an extended version of myself. I treat myself more like a vessel for inspiration to travel through, so the creative possibilities are endless and because of that I get to choose whether I can wear the songs as an identity or let them go. 

You have a new single out ‘Madonna’, which is being released on July 6th, how excited are you for this to be released?
Honestly, it’s been such a drawn-out process, I can’t believe it’s happening. I’m so relieved that I get to finally let people enjoy this side of me and revel in it with me. 

Can you give us a back-story behind ‘Madonna’?

I had been putting an album together and I thought I had finished the writing process. My producer /incredible friend, Sakr and I sat down and listened from it top to bottom and we both deeply felt that a part of the story was missing. 

The album explores tradition, identity and feminism and the pressure of following the ‘age old fairy-tale’ of marriage and children by 27, but most importantly, my experience navigating that and needing to entertain those ideas for myself. 

At the time I was listening to a brilliant French artist by the name of Yelle. Her song Emancipense, absolutely shattered my core; the album it features on is brilliant. I have no idea what she’s saying for the most part, but it felt so familiar and real to me that I needed to draw upon that same feeling and somehow emulate that in my own work. 

We got to the studio; myself, Sam and another incredible writer Madeline Crabtree (Muki) and we babbled on for hours about the topics of the album, fashion, the Madonna and the whore complex, Catholicism, art pop and everything in between, all at once. 

Maddie put a spotlight on the name Madonna. And it just felt right. Within 2 hours the song was written. 

What is your favourite lyric from the new single? 

“Tortured is an acquired taste”. 

What was the recording/writing process like for this single?

Surrounding myself with people that I trust was so crucial. This is the only song on the album with more than 2 writers. It was a safe space where each of us could be honest, call out and throw away ideas and the message was clear and understood by all of us. It was just fun, and easy – and sometimes that’s rare. 

What is next for you?

I’m moving over to London in August, and I’m so thrilled to make such a bold change to my life. I also may be releasing that album I’ve been talking so much about. You’ll have to keep in the loop. 

Madonna by SIR JUDE is now out on streaming!