What a week Rachael Fahim just had.
After taking home the APRA Award for Most Performed Country Work for her single “Who You Are”, she released her highly anticipated debut album of the same name.
One of the hottest new names in country-pop broke down each track on her album for Rolling Stone AU/NZ, which you can read below.
Fahim fans can also catch her celebrating her album on a national tour between May and June (ticket information here).
Rachael Fahim’s Who You Are is out now via Island Records Australia.
“Never Coming Back”
“Never Coming Back” really sets the scene for this album, which is perfect for track number one! It takes you on a journey of the emotional shift after a whole lot of hurt, and lands you right where you need to be, which is the land of self-love, where you finally choose yourself and say “ain’t no way I’m ever going back there to THAT place, ew.”
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It’s the sound of you closing the door for good – not because you hate the other person, but because you’ve finally stopped needing them.
This song is definitely one of the sassier ones on the album – still a full-volume car moment for me, preferably with no familiar faces around to clock that it’s mine!
If I can’t enjoy my own music, how can I expect anyone else to?!
“Who You Are”
“Who You Are” was born in my situationship era. I love the way this song feels, and I might be biased because I’m one of the writers and this song came from such a personal place, but I’m really proud of everyone in the room for how ‘Who You Are’ turned out and how we said what we wanted to say.
Once you’ve been hurt, you might carry that feeling around for a really long time (sometimes forever — depending on how bad it was!), and I remember saying in the session that I SO BADLY wanted to forget that this guy ever came into my life, that we ever crossed paths, and basically that he ever existed, but that would mean that I would be none the wiser to other guys with the same playbook.
I’ll never forget him, and somehow I’m both grateful for that and a little bitter about it. So long story short, I learnt things, and thanks to him, I’ll never repeat those things!
“Deep End”
The only love song on the album! I had to include one happy song or else everyone listening could’ve been feeling pretty hopeless about love by the end!
“Deep End” is light-hearted, fun, and it has a very “throw caution to the wind” sort of vibe to it, where you might be so in love or so ready to dive in deep with someone that you forget you were ever hurt by someone before them.
It’s about choosing vulnerability over fear, giving your whole heart instead of holding back, and learning that real love isn’t just for the weekends — it’s for every messy, beautiful day in between.
“Good Luck”
“Good Luck” was the first song written for the album, before I even knew I was writing for an album! I wrote it at a songwriting camp with a few friends — Greg Stace, Vendulka Witchta (aka Aya Yves), and James Johnston back in 2021.
I was going through a really tough time because the guy I’d been on and off dating (but without the label for about three years, I don’t know what I was thinking) surprised me by getting back with his girlfriend after I went away on a holiday. I came home and was like, “Oh.” It was awful!
As much as I was hurting, I didn’t want to lash out so I wrote a song to wish them luck — in the end everyone is just searching for love and happiness, and I truly believe that everything happens for a reason.
This song wasn’t written with any negativity attached. It’s simply a goodbye letter, to give me the closure I didn’t get from him, with a softness that still carries a little weight.
“Take It Back”
This song is the most raw and the most honest moment on the album for me — that last line of the chorus still hits me straight in the heart.
Instead of love being just a feeling in this song, “Take It Back” turns the idea of love into something tangible, like a piece of clothing you’re having second thoughts about, or maybe it’s the new mug that you see is shattered as soon as you’ve opened the box, so you return it… if only feelings worked the same way. Someone needs to review this “no returns or refunds” policy please!
I really like how “Take It Back” ties in to the whole album, with the theme being lessons learnt and learning who you are along the way — even if you could take it all back, I don’t think I would be who I am today without all of the experiences and the ups and downs I’ve been through.
“Dance Around It”
“Dance Around It” sits right on the edge of that “what are we” question, and also wanting to be flirty, free, and without labels!
Dating can be really tough and I’m the type of person that overthinks everything so I didn’t really enjoy dating that much if I’m honest.
This song reminded me to not be so serious all the time, and to just enjoy flirting.. The lyrical content actually reminds me of the Tango which is kind of fun! It definitely doesn’t sound like a Tango song though, so we’ll just have to stick to line dancing for this one.
“Easy As That”
The day I wrote “Easy As That”, I got home from the studio and put it on repeat as my therapy track for about three weeks straight. It was the song that gave me my groove back and made me feel alive again!
Realising your worth is SO IMPORTANT, and as much as I can say that I wasn’t going to make it “as easy as that” for this guy to come back into my life, I really had to believe it before I could follow through on it.
I wrote this one with my friends Liam Quinn and Olivia Regueira Garcia — they both just get me and I feel so comfy to open up every time we do a session!
“Too Damn Hot”
“Too Damn Hot” wasn’t initially supposed to be on this album, let alone a single, but I’m so happy it made its way here.
My friend and producer (and also a co-writer on this song too) Liam Quinn re-sent the track to me after he gave it a sonic makeover, he really brought it to our attention again while we were deciding on which songs we wanted to release as singles.
It just felt right, it’s an empowering anthem, and it’s the sort of track you want to send to your bestie when an unsalted cracker has just broken her sweet ‘n kind lil’ heart.
“Waste of Makeup”
Right before my Nashville trip where I wrote this song, I’d been stood up — it was truly 10/10 timing for this songwriter gal (me).
I’d also been, coincidentally, obsessed with a song called “Makeup Is Expensive”, about the pre-relationship grind: pouring your heart, sanity, and liquid foundation into someone who might not even show up.
“Waste of Makeup” is my sassy sequel: you walk away, see it for what it was, and all that time and energy… technically wasted BUT I’d made other plans with my girlfriends that night and ended up with this song, so it all worked out perfectly!
“You Suck”
I really wanted to write a fun song that just said it how it is, no fluff.
Sometimes people we know (and maybe date) suck, sometimes situations suck, and sometimes everything sucks… but I genuinely think that YOU create the magic in your own world and people should feel SO lucky to be in your presence if you’re allowing them to be there.
If this song speaks to you, congratulations — you don’t suck!
