For Ocean Grove singer/songwriter Camryn Fitzgerald the release of her debut single Older and Wiser has been a long time coming.
Fitzgerald, 23, wrote the song in 2020 while studying music and business at the Australian College of the Arts in Melbourne, but it has taken the best part of three years for the concept to become reality.
Older and Wiser, which the singer describes as a “nostalgic break-up anthem”, is an indie-pop earworm featuring Fitzgerald’s crystal-clear yet emotive vocals over layers of dreamy guitar and keyboard sounds.
Fitzgerald said the song was autobiographical and a way for her to let go of the past.
“Once I’d settled in Melbourne, I’d had quite a messy relationship previously and I was really struggling to focus on the one that I was in at the time,” she said.
“I hadn’t really grieved that previous relationship, so I found myself in this funny position where I didn’t think about that person in a fond way, but for some reason I was struggling to forget them.
“That’s where this song came from. It was my way of putting that relationship to rest so I could really thrive in the one I was in.”
Music has always been a part of Fitzgerald’s life, she said, even from her earliest memories.
“I’ve always been drawn to music; it’s just been in me and I’d always find myself, even when I was little, singing and making up songs,” she said.
In high school Fitzgerald joined all-female soul orchestra the Sweethearts, with whom she toured Europe in 2017, and subsequently started folk trio Hey Mammoth with fellow Sweetheart Matilda Hassall.
“I think touring with the Sweethearts taught me so much as a musician,” she said.
“In terms of my growth, I’ve found everything sort of links back to my time with the Sweethearts and Hey Mammoth.
“All the festival shows I’ve played with those two bands throughout the years have really ingrained everything I am now as a musician.”
Older and Wiser is available to stream online now.
