It may have been a few years since WILSN‘s debut EP Don’t Give Up made waves, racking up over 1M streams across streaming platforms independently. Rest assured, the Nashville-by-way-of-Melbourne songstress has not given up, but simply taken her time to do things on her own terms. Today she’s excited to announce her Self Titled EP along with the release of “Fight Like A Girl,” an empowering self-love female anthem packed with one hell of a punch. ATWOOD calls FLAG “WILSN’s biggest showstopper yet.” Read the exclusive interview and watch the FLAG video now below.
On the track and video, WILSN elaborates: “I felt compelled to write ‘Fight Like A Girl’ after a spate of male-led songwriting sessions where I felt like my opinions and talents weren’t being respected at all. It was like I was just the extra person in the room who wasn’t worth listening to. I needed to work twice as hard to prove myself and I was put in the ‘too shy’ and ‘untalented’ box before I even had a chance to open my mouth and sing. It was basically mansplaining at it’s finest. I know this experience is so relatable for all women in all walks of life and I wanted to write a song that myself and women around the world could use as a sort of fight song to ignite strength, courage and support when it’s needed or when were struggling to stand up for ourselves. When people say ‘you fight/run/throw like a girl’ it used to mean that you were bad at those things, insinuated that women are weaker and the standard is lower. But lately with all of the Womens’ Marches and protest signs weve been seeing that out-of-date saying has been flipped to mean the exact opposite.
For the music video I wanted to include all of the amazing women I’d met around the world as the song is about more than just me. Every woman has been through something similar. I was inspired by the signs at all the Women’s Marches happening all around the world. So I had the women all write down a word or two that they thought represented them and their own personal fight for equality, or a word that represents what being a woman means to them in today’s society. These signs and words helped to underpin the lyrical content of the song. I gathered the DIY clips myself over about 6 months from women in Sydney, Melbourne, Nashville, LA, Mumbai, Geelong, and Point Lonsdale then I slowly pieced the video together.”
Since her arrival on the scene, she’s garnered praise from Complex’s Pigeons & Planes, HillyDilly, NYLON, and The Guardian to name a few. Influenced by iconic voices like Aretha Franklin, Amy Winehouse, Alicia Keys, and Lauryn Hill, WILSN embraces her old soul unapologetically while adding a touch of modern flare on each track. With this in mind, it’s no surprise shes already supported notable acts such as the late Charles Bradley, Allen Stone, and Meg Mac, is represented ICM Partners (Blackbear, Kamasi Washington, Khalid, Lalah Hathaway, Nicki Minaj), and has a worldwide publishing deal with Pulse/Native Tongue (BORNS, Miike Snow, DRAM, Courtney Barnett). No solo tour dates are announced quite yet, but you can catch her on the road performing backing vocals for 300 Entertainment’s Meg Mac.
In April the singer-songwriter unleashed her very own medley of soul, jazz, and pop entitled “Home,” the very first taste of music to come following “Do This” which launched just ahead of the new year as a middle finger to the industry and those who advised her to mold into the mainstream. Crafted in Nashville, TN, WILSN enlisted the help of Jon Upton and Stephen Mowat, as well as bass player Adam Keafer (Kacey Musgraves)and drummer Jake Finch (Lucy Dacus). PopMatters called the track entrancing and moving and additionally raved about WILSNs masterful [storytelling]. Shortly following the audio release, the nostalgia-filled video made from WILSNs personal footage launched exclusively via NYLON.