Asha Jefferies is just over a month away from the release of her second album ‘Desire Is An Angel’, and the Australian songwriter has offered one final glimpse with new single ‘What the Hell’. She has also announced an east coast tour in support of the record, which arrives October 2 via Nettwerk.

‘What the Hell’ was actually the first song Jefferies began writing for the album, although it took several years to reach its finished form. Its chorus existed on its own for much of that time before eventually becoming a song caught between forgiveness and resentment, particularly the frustration that comes when somebody’s actions fail to match their words.

It follows ‘Backwards Baby’, ‘Art of Suggestion’ and ‘Cool Guy’, each revealing a different corner of an album that pushes Jefferies beyond the sound of her 2024 debut ‘Ego Ride’. Indie rock and folk-pop remain the foundations, but ‘Desire Is An Angel’ reaches for something broader without losing the intimacy of her songwriting.

Jefferies recorded the album in the UK with Big Scary and #1 Dads’ Tom Iansek, with the pair sharing production duties. At the centre of the record is desire itself, not simply as the pursuit of something missing, but as a means of working out who you are and what you actually want.

That idea takes Jefferies into some very different musical territory across the record. ‘Backwards Baby’ adds orchestral flourishes, while ‘Cool Guy’ grows from deliberately rough beginnings into something much bigger. ‘Lilo & Switch’ leans towards the punchier indie rock territory associated with Soccer Mommy and Lucy Dacus, while the title track takes a quieter, more meditative route.

‘Desire Is An Angel’ follows a busy couple of years for Jefferies. After releasing ‘Ego Ride’ in 2024, she toured through the UK, Europe and the US and supported Courtney Barnett, Soccer Mommy and Hana Vu. More recently, she was selected as Spotify’s EQUAL AUNZ Spotlight Artist for August, putting her into the platform’s global initiative supporting women in music and onto a billboard in New York’s Times Square.

The newly announced east coast tour now brings the focus back home. It will give Jefferies the opportunity to take a record concerned with desire, confidence and learning to articulate what you want out of the studio and onto Australian stages.

‘What the Hell’ is out now. ‘Desire Is An Angel’ arrives October 2 via Nettwerk.

DESIRE IS AN ANGEL TOUR DATES

Sat 7 Nov – Black Bear Lodge, Meanjin/Brisbane

Sat 14 Nov – The Bridge, Djaara/Castlemaine

Thur 19 Nov – The Evelyn Hotel, Naarm/Melbourne 

Thur 26 Nov – OAF Gallery, Eora/Sydney

Tickets HERE.

Related