Charlie Collins releases new single 'Rock Bottom' and announces third album 'Nightwriter' will be released 29 August
Image: Sean McDonald
Published: 8 May 2025
Australian singer-songwriter Charlie Collins today releases her new single ‘Rock Bottom’ and announces her third album Nightwriter will be released on 29 August.
Following the stunning ballad ‘Transactional Deal’, ‘Rock Bottom’ sees Collins move back into a more pop-rock soundscape shot through with a hint of country. With divine melodies, ethereal multi-layered backing vocals and a mesmerising vocal performance from Collins that is incredibly powerful in its gentleness, it is a stunning song.
Lyrically is an incredibly honest and raw look at Collins’s mental health after a bender turned into an overdose and she spent time in rehab. “I was insane / Mental head case / So they locked me up until I sobered up,” she sings.
“This one hit hard in every way and my words here tell the story,” Collins says. “I always felt like I had to be this fun, fucked up party girl or people wouldn’t like me, so I pretended for so long to be someone I wasn’t just to please others. I was numbing myself with whatever I could get my hands on because the pain was too far gone, and I felt like I couldn’t deal with any of it until I finally hit rock bottom and knew the only way to deal with it was head on.”
‘Transactional Deal’ and ‘Rock Bottom’ will feature on Collins’s third studio album Nightwriter which will be released on 29 August. Recorded in only three weeks with Neil Finn and Steven Schram (Crowded House, San Cisco) at Roundhead Studios in Auckland, the album was inspired by her collapse and her sometimes painful fight back to health, peace and redemption.
Starting aș a collection of demos recorded on her iPhone, or sung into an answering machine while she was in rehab, the album is sonically diverse and features acoustic ballads, shoegaze and pop rock amongst others, remaining direct without sugarcoating her experiences, an approach Collins was determined to take.
“I want to encourage women in particular to be bold and talk about the uncomfortable, we can also be real and raw with this and say it how it is,” she says.
Collins will premiere the album in an exclusive, one night only show tomorrow in Sydney at the Paddington Uniting Church with tickets on sale now.
Collins has been part of the Australian music scene since 2001 and as a solo artist is proving to be one of the country’s most important artists. She has a particular genius for creating songs that tell her own story in painfully honest details while also being relatable to the listener, and teaming it with music and melodies that are nothing short of beautiful. After a period of personal turmoil, she is hitting a creative high and based on its first two singles, Nightwriter will her most accomplished work yet.
‘Rock Bottom’ is out now via Island Records. You can download and stream here.
Nightwriter will be released on 29 August via Island Records. You can pre-save now here.
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