Kita Alexander: Standing Up In the Face of RAGE

Kita Alexander states that the rage she's concealed for years beneath a fear of being inconvenient is no longer a negative feeling. "It's confident, and it's empowering." For most of her life, she has felt self-conscious of how she is perceived, boxed in by the confines of society's rules and expectations of women, cut short by tall poppy syndrome and that voice in her head telling her she’s not allowed to take up space.

But now she's working on breaking free, relating it to a "gay awakening; like when you come out of the closet, you're like, 'I'm so gay'," she says, "it's like, I'm so angry."

She laughs at her own analogy but explains that she discovered she has "all this unearthed anger that’s bubbling away inside [of her], and this frustration with how [she] moves within the world."

"I can see now that rage and anger is in all of my songs," she explains.

Going back to her childhood, Kita says that she had a best friend who was louder and more outspoken than she was. "I looked at her and thought, 'That seems scary. What if people don't like what you say?'" She reflects, "There's been a lot of moments in my life that I've been too scared of being loud or angry. I think it has come with a little bit of age and a little bit of perspective to know that I'm allowed to be this way, and I don't have to change for society or other people.

"I also had a friend who picked me up on that. She told me, 'You don't have to just pretend everything's fine, you can actually be angry about something'. I was like, 'What? I'm allowed to be angry?'"

Now, weeks following the release of her sophomore album RAGE, Kita shares that this record has become a vessel in empowering and reclaiming herself, her thoughts and her feelings by speaking unapologetically in all of her songs.

In 'Miss Australia', Kita details the sarcastic remarks and sexist rhetoric thrown at her, fostered in Australia’s toxic tall poppy syndrome culture. While Kita says the track was "definitely born out of a place of frustration", she explains, "It's not an angry song as such, it's an observation on tall poppy syndrome and at the end, I embrace it, saying 'no, this is me and I want to shoot for the stars'.

"I hope when people listen to it, they question themselves before they act upon those comments they want to make about others, and they question why we feel the need to bring others down when we can just lift everyone up."

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Piggybacking off 'Miss Australia', the next song on the track list, 'Rage', encapsulates all of the themes and growth Kita has packaged into the album. From lyrics that speak on criticism she’s received, to avoiding confrontation, the song builds into the bridge where Kita bellows "Something’s not sitting right / Hey, I woke up from you / And now rage feels like all I can do". The lyrics bleed honesty, being truly accurate to what Kita shares about her journey of release, before she ultimately accepts that there’s more work and growth to do, singing "I hate that I still love you, but I do".

'Rage' was the last song Kita wrote for the album, sharing that once she had finished writing and recording the track, she was content that she had completed the record.

"I felt this sense of peace and calmness after I sang it in the booth, and I knew then this album was very empowering for me; it had a strength to it that I haven’t really dived into before."

Though the songs on RAGE delve into some heavy topics that were born out of unresolved anger, frustration and grief, the soundscape of each track is gentle and soft. Entering a sonic world of melodic acoustic guitars, keys, and the occasional twang of a banjo, each song is a beautifully constructed, easy-listen. Folding in sun-soaked, Byron Bay surf vibes, Kita says she wants the atmosphere of all her songs to sound like a "place [she] would want to live in".

Even though the lyrics might be raw or confronting, Kita "wants the songs to feel good".

"Sometimes, I personally enjoy just listening to a whole song without necessarily diving into lyrics. That comes out when I’m writing my songs because I'm creating art that I want in the world, which means having the option to face the lyrics or just let them wash over you, to enjoy the song as a whole."

With the help of a star-studded cast of collaborators, Kita worked alongside producer Chris Collins at Rockinghorse Studios in Byron Bay to create RAGE. Mixed by Oli Jacobs and mastered by Ruairi O'Flaherty, Kita wanted the studio version of her songs to translate seamlessly to the live performance of the album on tour.

Throughout the writing and recording process, Kita collaborated with PJ Harding (Noah Cyrus), Ehren Ebbage (Lizzie McAlpine and Myles Smith), Jamie Scott (Major Lazer and Justin Bieber), Dan Bryer (Niall Horan), and Shungudzo Kuyimba (Teddy Swims and Little Mix) to achieve her desired sound and tone for the album.

"I love hearing what someone can bring to a song I've written," Kita says on her collaborations. "I just love hearing the twist, the tone, how our voices blend, how the music blends… it adds a little spice that I can't bring myself."

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Outside of the songwriting and musical landscape, Kita is finding other ways to feel empowered, starting with just "saying what comes to my mind and not hiding it".

"I need to get to a place where I can hold what's true for myself and others in a moment. But right now, I'm just very proactively focused on how I'm feeling and never slipping back into shying away from that," she states confidently.

She gave us the example of when men make comments about her, beep at her, or make her feel uncomfortable. Instead of avoiding the feeling, pushing it down, and pretending it's not there, she confronts it and says what's on her mind, even if it's just frowning and blurting out, "yuck".

"I'm just acknowledging how I feel and respecting that to let little Kita know that I've got her back." And her advice for other people struggling with their confidence is to "take time to sit with your thoughts throughout the day".

"If it's not something you’re ready to say out loud, I find that meditation or writing really helps me to figure out how I’m feeling," she shares. "I haven't been a consistent journaler, but I love it, just to express my inner world.

"Sometimes I'll just scrunch it up and put it in the bin because I don't need to hold onto those words. I can just acknowledge them, let them out and then move past it. It can be a beautiful thing to just sit with your own thoughts to figure out how that comment from that person made you feel, or what that experience brought up for you."

To our delight, Kita will be heading to Adelaide twice within the year, first for her album tour with September, and then for Handpicked Festival in SA's Langhorne Creek in November.

"I'm so excited for the tour, Adelaide always brings a really fun energy. I have a few friends that have come from Adelaide, and I just love the people down there," she says on making her way down south in the next couple of months.

Though Kita spoke about how the album has been instrumental in empowering herself in her own journey, it will no doubt resonate with her audience and help them too. RAGE is thoughtful, meaningful, raw and ultimately inspiring to anyone who needs to let go of self-conscious worries, embody their frustration, find peace away from outside noise, and live true to themselves.

Catch Kita Alexander performing at The Gov on Thursday 24 September 24. Tickets on sale now thegov.com.au.