Black Label Entertainment

Release Date: March 8th 2024

Reviewed by: Joshua Andre

Ricki-Lee– On My Own (Amazon mp3/iTunes)

Track Listing:

1. On My Own
2. Point Of No Return
3. I Was Made For Loving You
4. Magic
5. Dance Like Nobody’s Watching
6. Real Love
7. More Than Love
8. Talkin’
9. Ghost
10. What Do You Want From Me?

One of the highest selling and most respected Australian artists to ever have eventuated from Australian Idol is Guy Sebastian. Guy has always been someone that seems to be a down-to-earth person. After winning Australian Idol back in 2003, the pop singer has released a steady stream of albums and hit singles, culminating in the release of T.R.U.T.H. in 2020 in the middle of COVID-19. We blogged about Guy a number of years ago and we also reviewed his most recent album. Everything that Jon has mentioned about Guy is something that I agree with. This is only from observation from interviews, but he seems to be a relaxed guy and someone who is level-headed- and that is someone rare in the music industry. Jessica Mauboy also resulted from Australian Idol, as did country superstars Shannon Noll and Hayley Jensen. But someone who is probably equally as talented and engaging and resonating who got their start from the Aussie competition all those years ago… is someone who probably isn’t that popular nowadays. Ricki-Lee Coulter, known by her first name Ricki-Lee only, is a bonafide and accomplished pop/dance artist in her own right; and this year, she has released her brand new album On My Own– her first in 10 years. At this stage of her career, Ricki-Lee probably doesn’t care about charts or album sales or anything numerical like that. But I was intrigued and interested in this release. Sure, it probably wouldn’t chart. But does it hit hard with the fans and with those of us who love Australian Idol and all of the artists that have originated from the show? Ricki-Lee is a host of many shows (Australia’s Got Talent, Australian Idol), and she is also a co-host on Ricki-Lee, Tim & Joel on Nova FM. But it is always her music that has engaged me and resonated with me; and so, shall we dive right into On My Own and see if there’s some sentimental and nostalgic Aussie gold there?

I always think that going out the way I did [7^th on Australian Idol in 2004], it created like a scar on people.  I feel like that made people kind of connected to me.  People have always supported me.  And I think it’s because I went out how I did, and it really left an impact.  I truly believe the reason why I have had a 20 year career is because people back me.  “She’s my girl.”  I feel like it’s an underdog thing, and they’re just rallying behind me.  I think, maybe, they’re seeing themselves a little bit in it too.  I try and think about what it is, but then when I do that it’s all too much to deal with (laughs).

I couldn’t tell you what my career would be if I had won and been signed to Sony.  It might have been a hell of a lot easier, but I can’t say that I would still be around 20 years later.  And I can’t say I would be as proud as I am of everything I’ve done.  If I hadn’t been eliminated early, I wouldn’t have been able to forge my own path.  When I came off Idol I was offered to sign with other labels, major labels, but I thought it was really interesting that the only label that asked me what I wanted to do, and let me explore who I wanted to be as an artist, was Shock Records, the independent record label.  And that was something so special to me, even as an 18-year-old.  I think back to that girl and I’m like, “Who the hell are you?”  That was such a huge decision for me to say no to these huge record labels and say, “I’ll take the harder path.”  I feel like I must have known something.

And I did forge my own path.  I got to make my own way and figure myself out.  Everything I did wasn’t always the greatest, but it’s because I was figuring out who I was as an artist and finding my feet.  I look back at that first album (2005’s Ricki-Lee) and I think, “Oh my gosh, what was that?”  That was a hot mess (laughs).  But that’s who I was at the time.  It’s exactly who I was.  I wanted to be a little bit of everything, and that’s what that album was.  It was rock, it was pop, it was funk, it was soul, it was R&B.  But I’m really happy that I got to explore that, because it meant that I’ve also had to learn so much along the way.

Not being with the big labels with all the money meant I had to figure out how to do things in a more savvy way, or be a bit more crafty, rather than just relying on the weight and heaviness of a major record label.  I think that’s what stepped me up to be exactly where I am today, where I am doing this on my own.  I have a wonderful team around me, but I feel like I know this business and this industry so well because I have lived and understood every part of it over the last 20 years.  It hasn’t just been handed to me.  It never has.  Even when I was with EMI, I delivered those albums to them written and produced, and then they put them out, but I was such a part of the release and the visuals, and even the music videos.  I’ve always been such a part of (everything) that doing it independently isn’t that different for me.

All the way from track 1-10 is unashamedly 100% Ricki-Lee in that it’s pop music that puts a smile on your face, that keeps you dancing, but also has an inspiring message that can encourage you and make your day. Album opener “On My Own” is the title track and lead single, and has Ricki powerfully and eagerly recounting that she is fine doing things on her own, and that she is feeling incredibly empowered when having full control of her own decisions. And as Ricki has reiterated herself: ‘On My Own’ is the song of my life. If this is the last song I ever put out I can hang my hat up and say ‘OK, I’m happy’. It’s everything I’ve ever wanted to say in a song. What I love about this song is that it’s a bit left-field, it’s not what people are expecting from me. My favourite lyric in the whole song is ‘I found sparks in the darkest places so watch me start a fire in the rain’. No matter what I’ve been through, even in the most difficult and challenging times when everything was against me, and people doubted me or said I couldn’t….I did. I figured it out, I found a way, I made it happen and I did what nobody expected. That goes for everything in my life. That line represents my entire personality. “On My Own” is a brilliant melody to start with, and the hits keep on coming. “Point Of No Return” is a dance/club melody that has Ricki enthusiastically outlining that the persona is at the point of no return in falling in love with another person, but another meaning to the song is that Ricki is now at the point of no return in her independent music career- she has launched her own record label and she will now forge ahead- whatever happens. “I Was Made For Loving You”, is a modern dance reinterpretation of the KISS classic melody, and as Ricki mentions, the song has drawn in a plethora of fans who love KISS to be potential fans of Ricki’s new music: I felt like the album needed some glitter disco pop. We were just kind of humming and we were coming up with all of these melodies and then someone started singing and we realised it was a bit like ‘I Was Made For Lovin’ You’. At that point you make a decision – we have to jump off this because this is someone else’s song or we lean into it, get it cleared and then that’s the song. So we tried to get clearance. and that was…fun! Kiss wanted 100% of the publishing, and because we were just calling it ‘Made For Loving You’, it had to be called ‘I Was Made For Loving You’, and it was only them that we’re allowed to be credited as songwriters. We weren’t even allowed to be credited as songwriters on the song, even though we wrote a whole song around it! But we were just like, ‘f*** it. It’s so cool. Let’s do it’. The song sounded very different when we first produced it, and then I thought why not lean into the Kiss sound even more than we have. So we changed the chords slightly to make it exactly their melody for the chorus, and put all their hooks in. If they’re taking our publishing, we’re putting their hooks in! It was really fun to not shy away from leaning into the nostalgia of that song. We all have that nostalgic love for that song, so why not give people what they want? I’m so obsessed with it, it’s been really cool to see the reaction so I’m so glad that you love that one so much. “Magic”, a dance melody to be played in bars and on the disco dancefloor, is pure Aussie pop at its finest; while “Dance Like Nobody’s Watching” musically and lyrically follow a similar pattern to “Magic”- danceable pop music with the lyrics not too deep, but about the act of dancing and how it makes you happy.

“Real Love” changes the tempo slightly, as the pop/dance semi-ballad speaks about Ricki’s need for real love and something that is honest, authentic and personal; while “More Than Love” is the spiritual sequel to the previous track, as the Dua Lipa/Ava Max-esque track speaks about falling in love, being in a relationship, but realising that it takes more than love (hard work, dedication, faithfulness to name a few!) to stay in a solid and healthy relationship. “Talkin’”, an 80’s themed Bee Gees-style melody, is a pop song in style, but lyrically is a savage takedown of an ex whereby Ricki outlines that if he’s running his mouth and talking, he should leave her name out of his conversations with people. “Ghost”, a track about an ex or about a former friend, is a song that shades the other person for ghosting her, but also relays that the persona still wants to cling onto some semblance of the former relationship or friendship and that she still sees the other person everywhere she goes, and hence, they’re like a ‘ghost’ that is haunting her: I wrote the song about being ghosted. We’ve all been there, and it’s such a weird and frustrating thing to go through because you never really get any closure. It was actually a difficult song for me to write because it’s about losing someone I was extremely close to. One minute they were a huge part of my life, and the next day they were gone. It was like they died…but they didn’t…they just vanished out of my life one day. I was heartbroken. And what makes it worse is that we live in a world where social media keeps everyone connected – but sometimes it’s more like you’re being haunted by the person who ghosted you when you see their face popping up in your DM’s and watching everything you’re doing. For me, it’s up there with ‘On My Own’ and ‘Raining Diamonds’ as one of my favourite songs I’ve ever written. From the second we wrote this song I knew it was a single, and I could see people screaming along to the chorus at the top of their lungs! Not every song is like that… but from the beginning this one just hit different. It’s fun, but it’s sad. It’s heavy but uplifting. It’s reflective but it’s also celebratory. On My Own then ends with the haunting, melancholy and emotional song “What Do You Want From Me?”, where Ricki sings about a toxic relationship and about one person asking the other to pull their weight, and asking them in desperation and frustration what do they want from the relationship and from the other person.

I’ve been in this industry for so long, and I remember when streaming didn’t exist.  When I first started it was Napster, and all that weird s***.  But I remember when it was all about physical.  You had to physically go to the shops and a buy a copy of someone’s album if you wanted to listen to it.  There was something about the ownership of that thing you had spent money on.  You bought it, you put it in your car, and it was too annoying to change (the disc) (laughs).  I think the value of that had so much weight to it.  It was much bigger back then.  Now, I feel like music can feel a little disposable.  You have everything you want at your fingertips.  And you can forget songs even exist.  I know I have thousands of playlists!

I still have so many fans that buy physical copies of things.  Whether it’s because they want to complete their collections, or they’ve got all my albums on CD, so they want this one too.  I wanted to honour that and acknowledge that, and it does mean something to me.  So I wanted to release a physical embodiment of this album.  That was important to me.  Initially, we were only going to do vinyl, because everyone’s doing vinyl now.  It’s cool.  And I’ve never released an album on vinyl.  But then I had all these fans screaming at me because I hadn’t done CDs when we put the pre-orders up.  I was like, “Oh s***, I didn’t think anyone would want CDs?” So we scrambled and we had them manufactured, and now they are outselling the vinyl.  It’s crazy to see.  Record stores don’t really exist anymore, so we’re only doing the vinyl and CDs through the website.  It’s really cool.

I think because there’s that celebration of 20 years since I started in this business, there’s so much nostalgia to that, so it’s a way of acknowledging my fans and thanking them for the support.  I wanted to make sure I had something that my fans could hold on to, and bring to shows and have them signed.  There’s something so cool about that.

On My Own is Australian pop at its finest. You might think it’s cheesy. That’s ok. Ricki-Lee’s album may not resonate with you. That’s fine too. All I know is that Australian music is incredibly emotional, honest and vulnerable, and in my opinion, On My Own just cements my view that Aussie music has that special kind of special something attached to it. Dunno what it exactly it… but it’s there. In Guy Sebastian’s music, with Delta Goodrem, fellow Idol alums Shannon Noll, Jessica Mauboy, Hayley Jensen, as well as with Amy Shark, Samantha Jade, Dami Im, Missy Higgins, Kylie Minogue… and also with Ricki-Lee’s music. On My Own may be short in length (only 30 minutes!). But it’s 30 minutes of pop goodness, and gets you on your toes. Lyrically, this is as good as it gets also. Well done Ricki, I can’t wait to hear what’s next from you! May we never wait 10 years between albums ever again!

3 songs to listen to: On My Own, I Was Made For Loving you, Ghost

Score: 4.5/5

RIYL: Guy Sebastian, Delta Goodrem, Dmai Im, Samantha Jade, Jessica Mauboy, Amy Shark, Missy Higgins, Kylie Minogue