A release day in 2026
I went to bed at 2am, not unusual, but there was a sense of anticipation… I love releasing new music and today’s the day.
My manager and I got up at 6am to just make sure that everything was working properly before the rest of the Australia woke up. I had my checklist - update banners, bios, links etc.
This is the first single drop where I’ve been aware how far ahead the Australian time zone is from the rest of the world. With international audiences a day behind on the calendar, it’s not as simple anymore as just saying OUT NOW on every platform. Details like that start to feel bigger to me lately than what they probably are.
I realised pretty late that today is a public holiday in Victoria for the AFL. I made peace with the idea that ‘New Music Friday’ might not have as many people listening today. The thing is, people who want to hear this song will find it eventually. It’s a marathon not a sprint… except I forgot…
Spotify monitors the first 24 hours of a new release to decide whether it’s worth distributing it to more listeners. Oh whateverrrr.
In general, ‘New Music Friday’, is in direct opposition to social media algorithms - Friday being a day that people are notoriously less online. Whatever. I suspend all internal commentary about the larger ethical and philosophical issues I have with Spotify and social media to focus on the job at hand.
Some notifications start coming in. Some of them are just old men in America calling me fat on a previous viral reel.
It’s 10am and I’ve done everything I was excited to.
Usually I would be much busier - resizing artwork last minute, or fixing a hyperlink last minute. But nothing has gone wrong. The team at Strong Feelings made the google drive folder of my dreams with Bandcamp’s strange banner art sizing accounted for and a Youtube banner that works across TV, laptop and phone without cutting my face in half somewhere.
I realise it’s all done, but I don’t have the rush I’m used to... I check my instagram - stats are down boys. Looks like the algorithm and AFL may have won this 24 hour cycle.
Releasing this single from a technical standpoint today was incredibly pleasant, but the responsibility I felt to perfectly navigate multiple algorithms felt more impossible and the ground harder than usual. Maybe our immediate FFMB community is getting harder to reach, or maybe I’m just swimming in a larger, colder pond. What’s a girl got to do to inspire and delight through song hey.
I’m incredibly grateful that this song exists and I thank you for finding it today and celebrating with me. I think it’s one of the beautifully engineered, arranged and recorded tracks we’ve put out. More on that later. x
