“I just want to be human”: Rowena Wise announces second album Bad Things Feel Good* with “Diamond In The Rough” single

The new single “Diamond In The Rough” is a close-up of the loneliness that can come with being told you’re exceptional. The song was sparked by watching a friend struggle under a self-made pedestal. Wise frames it as an invitation rather than a verdict. “‘Diamond In The Rough’ is an invitation to step down from that self-made pedestal, to pause, to let yourself unravel a little, and to reach toward others on equal footing,” she explained. “We don’t have to be extraordinary to be worthy. We are not special, we are simply enough.”

The video, directed by Didirri, leans into that friction. Shot late at night in a semi-abandoned warehouse apartment, it draws from a scene in The Last Showgirl - a dejected, slow-motion dance ignored by passers-by - to mirror the performance of self the song describes. Wise said they improvised most of the movement “to retain a sense of character rather than a neat dance routine,” aiming for something “glamorous, yet dark and human.”

The new collection arrives a little over a year after Wise’s debut, Senseless Acts of Beauty, and marks a shift in register. Produced by Rob Muinos (Julia Jacklin, Didirri) and cut live over three days at The Ratshack in Collingwood, Bad Things Feel Good* trades the careful indie-folk of that first outing for a rawer live-band sound. Richard Bradbeer (bass), Jess Ellwood (drums), and Matt Dixon (pedal steel) play on the record.

Across ten songs, Wise picks at the threads of romantic, familial, and communal intimacy. Wise’s own summary of the record doesn’t wrap things neatly. “I thought I had metabolised the growing pains of adulthood in the last decade,” she said. “In reality, I’ve been wobbling on a pedestal of ‘overcoming’ that I created. I have been careless with my heart, dishonest to myself about what I want and who I am. Now I don’t know who I am, but I do know that I just want to be human, to be at peace with the messiness of life without continuing to try to tell a clean, novel story about it.”

Bad Things Feel Good* artwork

Bad Things Feel Good* tracklist

“Home In This World”
“More Horizon”
“Blood Ties”
“No Angel”
“Sum of Two”
“Diamond In The Rough”
“The Anchor”
“Unlearning Of Love”
“Bad Things Feel Good”
“Days Ahead”