Princess One Point Five are earning rave reviews for their fourth studio album What Doesn’t Kill You, and are preparing to take the songs to Australia on a national launch tour. Before hitting the road singer-songwriter Sarah-Jane Wentzki chatted to Sounds of Oz about the new release, life on the road, and that quirky band name.
Your band has a really interesting name. Where did that come from?
It’s actually kind of lame; Princess is a vague interpretation of my name (Sarah means princess, or lady in many cultures) and my height (1.5 metres). Over time it’s come to mean something different every time someone asks. A very drunk girl recently gave me the idea that it should mean “modern day princess.” God bless trashbags.
You’ve released four albums now, yet many music fans may not be aware of your music. How would you describe your sound?
Ethereal vocals, lush soundscapes juxtaposed with straight up rock and roll and catchy pop hooks.
You’ve just released album number four, What Doesn’t Kill You. What can you tell me about it?
Where do I start?! What… is like the sister album to The Truth (our second album). Sort of like ten up but it’s actually only 5 years on. It’s a return to heart-on-your-sleeve honest songwriting and musically it’s a really collaborative effort. It’s a sonically mature album; like we stopped caring what other people think and just went ahead and had fun with it, and it really benefits for that ethos. The songs themselves are a collection of conversations (some real some fictional) and stories: about us, about other people, about … stuff. It was a rough year while we were writing, so the title represents coming out the other side of it. It’s a joyous album, though, not at all maudlin like I’m making it out to be. I’m very proud of what we’ve made. If our last album was an awkward teenager, this one is the really decent person she grew into.
You’ve been playing a few warm-up shows ahead of your launch tour. How have the crowds responded to the new material?
The people who get the chance to see us live really love it, actually. We’ve been so chuffed about the response. I even have a brand new stalker. Yay me!
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