Meet Alana Wilkinson and her touching new single, Partner In Crime

Contemporary folk singer-songwriter Alana Wilkinson is making falling in love with her sound so natural. Sprouting from Melbourne, she’s the flower-child we didn’t know we needed. After marking her spot in the folk field with her debut single, Closer and being lucky enough to tour Australia’s major festivals (Nannup Festival, Blue Mountains Festival, Woodford Folk Festival) with folk music royalty, Wilkinson is definitely creating a name for herself. 

This new track radiates a feeling that can only be described as bittersweet. Partner in Crime is an emotionally gripping single disguised by innocent lyrics that take listeners back to when Alana Wilkinson was younger. Her use of raw acoustic major-key guitar strumming brings a sense of warmth to the surface and compliments her songbird-like vocals incredibly well. With accompaniment by echoes of piano keys, its easy to understand how this song can take one away to a place of content and easy listening, however, Wilkinson’s inspiration is one that genuinely provokes a different feeling.

Partner in Crime is essentially a one-sided conversation she is having with her childhood best friend who unfortunately passed away. It recalls how they used to grow together, carelessly embracing their youth in their own world. It’s a dedication to the time they had together, instead of focussing on the loss she went through: “I needed to write a song that painted a picture of the colourful friendship we shared as kids.” The honest and resonating words that make up the lyrics reveals the love they shared as friends and is clearly understood in this hard-hitting coming-of-age story. With a sound that reflects that of Julia Jacklin or Maggie Rogers, 2019 is definitely ready for more of Alana Wilkinson. 

Let the single transport you below, and get to know Alana Wilkinson even better below that:

Tell us about yourself?

I’m a singer, songwriter and dance machine based on the Surf Coast. I roll around in a camper van from 1984, am a chronic over-sharer and probably eat too many Twix bars.

What’s the vibe music-wise?

It really depends on the day and the mood I’m in. Sometimes it’s happy, sometimes it’s sad and sometimes it gets a bit wayward and ridiculous. I have songs about love and loss and sex dreams and polar bears that wished they lived in Jamaica - so, it’s a big, mixed bag of emotional lollies from your local milk-bar. I am infatuated with so many artists from so many genres and eras and feel they all influence my writing in some way. 

What are your production and writing processes like? 

Writing for me is super therapeutic. A lot of the time I find that I write a song because I need to hear it, other times I just have a guitar or piano line that I wanna play with and build from there. It is honestly different every time and knowing that writing is never something you can pin down, keeps the process an exciting and ever-evolving adventure.

Production wise, I had the privilege of working with my incredibly talented friend Hayden Calnin. Building songs with him is an absolute dream. We recorded in a beautiful old church up in Lauriston and built the EP tracks with the help of dear friends Justin Lewis (electric guitar), Angus Robb (whistles and BV’s) and Xander Theofanis (bass). The production process was a breezy, lovely time full of great pals recording music over tea and bakery treats. 

Can you tell us about your new single, Partner In Crime? 

Partner In Crime is a song I wrote after my childhood bestie, Amy passed away a few years ago. It was one of those songs I wrote because I needed to hear it at the time that I was processing everything. I really wanted to honour our friendship that was built while navigating those weird inbetwiddle years of being too small for grown-up clothes and way 2KEWL for kids clothes. We were mischief makers who made a song and dance of everything, fought tirelessly over nothing and… she was the friend who helped me rummage through the crummy, stinky leftovers of lost property to find the best pair of trackies when I peed my pants at primary school. Ha!

Ultimately, writing Partner In Crime was about capturing that giggly, colourful bond we shared and it’s super special for me to be able to share that with an audience. 

Any tour dates coming up?

I’m finally in Melbourne for a few months, so I’ve got some fun shows booked in down here! Wahoo!

16th April - Sonic Textures at The Night Cat, Fitzroy

26th April - Songs On Song at The Wesley Anne w/ Maja, Benjamin Trillado and Tiaryn

27th - 28th April - Mount Beauty Music Festival

4th May - Shoelace Sessions at Compass Pizza

17th May - The Wesley Anne w/ Taylah Carroll

19th May - Supporting Nathan Cavaleri and Shaun Kirk at The Toff

What does 2019 have in store for you?

Honestly, I am just so flippin’ happy to be finally releasing music! I am really looking forward to writing as much as possible over winter, filming more videos for more singles, releasing more tunes and playing shows. I’ll be at a few music festivals this year too so I'm looking forward to playing those and going to see as many gigs as I can! So many kick-ass musicians in Melbourne and now that I’m not travelling as much, I’m excited to go and watch the wonder.

Where can we find more of your music?

I’ve only released two songs now and they’re on Spotify, Apple or whichever streaming service tickles your pickle... But you can find a treasure trove of weirdness in video form on Youtube and Facebook and Instagram.

Follow Alana Wilkinson: FACEBOOK