Exclusive: soft star – ‘I Need A Room’
soft star have shared their new single, ‘I Need A Friend’. Listen to the track exclusively via The Note.
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Acclaimed Kaurna-based musician Jesse Davidson returns with his solo project soft star.
After several years performing with a stack of incredible local performers, such as Ponybite, Ricky Albeck & the Belair Line Band, OIL!, Bree Tranter, and Dark Daze, Davidson is going solo once again, sharing new single ‘I Need A Room’, the first taste of his upcoming solo debut album, Knacker’s Yard.
The track is a shoegaze wonder accompanied by a music video shot by Davidson and Adelaide-based filmmaker Alex Zmau, featuring live guitarist Caelyn Judson as a down-on-his-luck goblin. The single’s release coincides with a short tour of China in March.
The album finds Davidson embracing a rawer, more intimate sound than previous work. Knacker’s Yard was recorded over ten days in Melbourne back in 2024 with producer Robert Muiños (Julia Jacklin, Rowena Wise).
When performing live, soft star is Davidson performing alongside Caelyn Judson (Goon Wizzard), Frank Atkinson (Ebop), Harry Freeman (The High Beamers), as well as the infrequent addition of Daniel Penberthy (Live Slug Reaction).
To celebrate the release, Davidson answered several questions from The Note about his new single, upcoming album and touring in China.
After several years performing with a range of local acts, you’ve decided to step back out as a solo artist. What promoted this decision?
I was dipping my toe into playing small shows now and then, and had a few friends that I shared demos with who said I should just be releasing this stuff. In my head, I built it up to be a big deal, but actually, nobody really cares, so why not, hey?
You’ve recorded your debut album, Knacker’s Yard, set for release later this year. What can you tell us about the album?
It’s a mix of songs I had written a couple years prior, and songs I’d written weeks before recording. It was recorded in a relatively short amount of time, which was really refreshing as it makes you make decisions really quickly and forces you to actually finish songs (which I struggle to do at the best of times). I think it’s a pretty varied batch of songs. This single is probably in the ‘rock’ batch, but there are others that are pretty different.
You recorded Knacker’s Yard back in 2024. Why wait until now to release it?
I am extremely disorganised and I was hoping to get a label to help put it out, but couldn’t sort it out. So I decided that I shouldn’t sit on it any longer and just start getting it out there.
First single ‘I Need A Room’ is a wonderful shoegaze-type guitar track. Talk us through the idea behind the song.
I originally sent a version of the instrumental with gibberish scratch lyrics as a demo for my old (short-lived) band, Ponybite (RIP). Then, when it came time to get things together for this album, I smashed out new lyrics, and it started to make more sense as a song. I wrote the lyrics pretty quickly, about being frustrated with not being able to find a share house for ages. I think I was sleeping on the couch of my friend Sini’s house while I tried to find a place to rent. Good times.
You worked with producer Robert Muiños on the record. What was that experience like?
Rob is a massive legend and made it heaps of fun. He was super encouraging in the right ways and would also be pretty blunt if he wasn’t into something. I felt like that really helps when you’re trying to make decisions and need an impartial opinion to tell you when something isn’t working. Recording altogether as a band was also a bit of a game-changing revelation for me, that you didn’t have to record every single instrument individually and you could just play as a band. He also had a screen in his studio that you could watch The Waterboy (1998) on while he was doing some vocal comping.
The single is accompanied by a music video shot by you and Adelaide-based filmmaker Alex Zmau. What can you tell us about the concept behind the clip?
I just had a very vivid image of my friend Caelyn Judson (who also plays guitar in soft star) as a goblin. I just thought, wow, wouldn’t it be cool if he was a goblin. I could just see him as a goblin, doing all kinds of things. Then I had a brainstorm with my good friend Alex Zmau, and we wrote a short list of things he could be doing as a goblin. But then we changed the idea so that maybe this guy wasn’t a goblin? He would just be a guy who likes to dress up as a goblin, but he’s just a normal guy who’s a bit down on his luck. This was partially a decision we made because we couldn’t figure out how to do the makeup to make him look like a real goblin. Sometimes you just have to roll with the punches.
You’re off to China for a short run of shows. How did that come about?
My good friend Travis lives in Guangzhou, and I played a small run of solo shows there because of him in 2024. It was a really welcoming and validating experience, and I really wanted to come back. It kind of ended up coinciding with when my friend Albert, who performs as Aloe Vittoria, was looking for some gigs over there. We’re going to be playing together, and potentially a few DJ sets are also on the cards. I’ve also got a drummer who’s going to be playing with me over there. His name is Gao and he’s an absolute legend.
Can we expect an Australian tour later this year?
Yeah, you can definitely expect some kind of Australian tour later this year. I haven’t booked anything yet. I will manifest this into reality.
‘I Need A Room’ by soft star is out now. Watch the music video below or stream here.
