From celebrating her victory lap of the success of “Rum and Coke” to coming to her own and into the fullness of her voice as a musician with her latest single “Hello Goodbye,” the superstar status South African pop star Lola Audreys has longed for since she was a little girl has never been nearer than it is to her right now. Four years since the release of her biggest hit, “Miami”, which spawned various remakes, Audrey has yet to let up, championing positivity maxxing with her music and inspiring joy along the way.
A product of the lush and earthy scenery of Somerset West, Audreys talked about her upbringing and how one fateful trip to Disneyland, where she first beheld her idols Hannah Montana and Selena Gomez, inspired her to reach for the stars herself.
“I have always loved music. My family and I grew up in Somerset West, just outside; we were in Silo Park. My parents had a small holding while I grew up with the chickens, our cows, and two really big sheep. We ended up with the most beautiful childhood, to be honest. Our parents eventually took us to our first overseas trip for Disney World, and when I saw Miley Cyrus, Hannah Montana and Selena Gomez, it altered my brain chemistry. That was when I knew and decided that this was what I wanted to do, a career path and the person I wanted to be. I took hold of that dream as a child without ever letting go, and to this day I’m still living it. I’m still here, pretending to be Hannah Montana, and to be honest, I do think I have become a Hannah Montana myself,” she said.
Lola Audreys | SUPPLIED
The singer-songwriter recently released a song she classified as a darling to her heart, a single titled “Hello Goodbye”. Rooted in letting life be, in connections birthed by alignment, and in the beautiful pain of parting ways, she spoke about what the song meant to her and why she felt it important to drop it.
“You know, ‘Hello Goodbye’ is a special song for me because it carries a lot of what I keep in my heart, which is the possibilities that come with each day. The song is about optimism because I believe that a hello can open up doors and opportunities, that saying hello to someone could change your life. Saying hello to beautiful things in life can alter your own. On the other hand, I also believe that goodbyes are blessings in disguise. Some hellos change you, and some goodbyes save you. So the song is about the possibilities of saying something as simple as ‘hello,’” she said.
She talked about the beauty of connection as a basic theme for the song, and it being a seed holding a life with possibilities that branch out in ways unimaginable.
“The song also talks about the idea of connection. The entire process of ‘Hello Goodbye’ came about with simple eye contact and the feeling that comes over you that hints that you might know someone. It’s also about the fleeting feeling that stays with you long after the moment, the feeling that makes you question if the moment could’ve become something more had you said something,” she said.
Listen to “Hello Goodbye”:
More than a single that heralds the release of a full-length project, Audreys touched on how her latest single was a representation of the flow of her creative powers and her being comfortable in her identity as a musician and her voice as an artist.
“The song carries my heart. Over the past years, I’ve put out my music, but recently I feel like I’ve transitioned to this beautiful path of moving back home to South Africa, and my last couple of releases have been about exactly who I am, what I want, and I am being super authentic about it. That in itself is making my music way better, which I feel has boosted my confidence a little bit more, leading to me releasing more music as a result. So, I’m happy with the music I’m making right now and ‘Hello Goodbye’ is a great example of who I am, what I stand for, the exciting possibilities of life, and the joy of music,” she said.
Audreys reflected on how music has been a lifelong ambition ever since she was young.
“I’ve always believed in chasing dreams, goals, and all these other beautiful things in life. I’ve always been passionate about music and entertainment, dance, film, and photography. When I experienced Disney for the first time, I was eleven years old, and the experience altered me completely—I was thrown into this amazing world, and I never left it. We had an old piano back at the farm, and I remember marking the keys with a permanent marker and putting pink stickers on the keyboard before I started teaching myself how to play it. I eventually did lessons, and I found myself doing karaoke, pretending to be Taylor Swift and doing covers on YouTube,” she said.
Lola Audreys | Credit: @amberlyvalentine
Lola talked about the impact she aimed to leave with her music.
“I’m a 2000s rom-com girlie. You know when you watch those movies—I’m talking Sandra Bullock, Nancy Meyers and Julia Roberts movies from the early 2000s—and they leave you feeling inspired and optimistic? I want my music to make people feel the same way. For example, with ‘Hello Goodbye,’ I turned eye contact into a three-minute song at the end of the day, and it’s amazing how it can tell you a whole story while giving you joy. So I’d like to contribute emotional joy and optimism with my music,” she said.
The songstress revealed some of the plans she has for the rest of the year.
“I’m in a very joyful season of my music, and I’ve just done a lovely event called Flowers and Friends, where I did the acoustic version of the single. I love hosting events like that, where people get to choose flowers and where I also sang for them. So I’ll definitely be doing more of that, particularly from October to December in Cape Town. I’ll also be doing live sessions in London over the next few months. Then, I have a new single coming out in June and another one coming out in July, as well as something special in December. So it will all be about keeping things rolling,” she said.
