Greta Stanley announces her sophomore album Real Love In Real Life and releases Red Earth Dirt

Cairns-based singer / songwriter Greta Stanley is focused. She knows who she is as an artist and how to express her vision. Facing down the challenges of the past two years (along with those that all artists face), Greta has forged through to record a stunning sophomore album titled ‘Real Love in Real Life’, set for release on 29th April 2022 via Double Drummer / Believe.

True to its title, ‘Real Love in Real Life’ is an album where love, joy and optimism sit alongside uncertainty, pathos and stark honesty. Greta has broadened her sound from her indie-folk roots to incorporate elements of electronic music, R&B, rock, pop and even hip hop - but all with that trademark Greta Stanley storytelling which has attracted more fans with every release.

The new single released today is ‘Red Earth Dirt’ - the poppiest, biggest and most immediate song from Greta to date. It’s a danceable banger showcasing a subtle 80s influence alongside Stanley’s remarkable voice.

“This song is about a lot of things - aliens, UFOs, love, family, the future, bad driving, my dog,” Greta said on writing the song. “Ultimately, I was inspired to write it thinking about the life I want, which is the life my parents have. They live in a quiet little green place, with creeks nearby, red dirt hills, peace and serenity all around and have just what they need to be happy. It's a song that reminds me of home but is also about a fear of the unknown - the relationships I have and weaving moments of my life that are small but feel so significant.”

An eye-popping accompanying video is also out today, directed by acclaimed photographer and videographer Saskia Hilton.

Stanley says of the clip: “We wanted to do a bit of an 80s alien encounter theme, and I think we nailed it. There’re a few lines in the song that reference UFO/alien searching/sightings. My boyfriend Bronson is super into looking up and knowing about that stuff. I'm a believer, but if they ever did hit Earth I definitely wouldn't want to be part of the experience, whereas he's all for it. In fact, I think he’s hoping it happens. We'd been watching a lot of X-Files, and old alien movies so the film clip theme was inspired by that, but also Saskia just has such a good eye and strong vision to take this small reference and make it into something larger.. I got a few stares when I stopped for snacks at the corner store in my sparkly get-up, haha”.

Watch the video for ‘Red Earth Dirt’ below.

Being geographically restricted can be a negative experience in many ways for an artist, but when it came to recording ‘Real Love in Real Life’, Greta saw it as an opportunity to work with local Cairns and Far North Queensland creatives. She is proud that the majority of her new album was made the help of locals. From photographer / videographers Saskia Hilton (‘Red Earth Dirt’ video) and Bridie Jane Egan (‘New Feeling’ video), to using locals as extras in videos and production.

In fact, most of the recording for ‘Real Love in Real Life’ was done with Cairns-based producer Tristan Barton, best known for his award-winning film compositions as well as Greta’s popular previous singles 'Pour', 'Kick', 'Hope It Lands' and 'Close Call'. Several songs were also recorded with Greta’s longtime producer Mark Myers from the Middle East (who is now based in the Atherton Tablelands).

As well as recording her new album, Stanley recently collaborated with Just a Gent on his recent ‘Sleeptalking’ single (close to 500K Spotify streams already) and Riley Pearce on ‘Bottle It Up’ (675K streams and counting).

Busting to bring the songs of ‘Real Love in Real Life’ alive on the stage, Greta is currently planning a run of dates which will be announced shortly.