Charlie Pittman: Turning Dating Debris Into Devastating Pop
Photo Credit: Sara Regan
It was an unusually sunny July day in Melbourne at Sunset Disco Studios. Charlie Pittman saunters into the room, not with an ego, but with a palpable confidence. Lugging his oversized suitcase up the stairs from his early flight in from Sydney, Pittman is instantly warm, affable and a lot taller than expected. After some small talk on how his flight was and what lay ahead for him over the next few days, we settled in to talk all things, songwriting, manifestation and the vicious cycle of modern dating.
Charlie Pittman won hearts around Australia with his vulnerability and raw vocals during his time on The Voice back in 2023. With coach Guy Sebastian by his side, Pittman placed runner up in the competition, building a rapidly growing fanbase for a blossoming career.
Now, after spending the last couple of years writing in Nashville, performing sold out solo shows across the UK and Australia and supporting artists such as Drax Project and The Band Camino on their respective tours, Pittman is gearing up to release his brand new EP dropping September 19th, okay. again?, is a six-track masterclass in storytelling and the tumultuous nature of modern dating. In his own words, Pittman describes the EP as “introspective, exposing and honest”.
okay. again? follows Pittman through all stages of modern dating, from the slow disintegration of a relationship, to the way you can lose your sense of self in the pursuit of someone. The EPs title, okay. again?, gracefully tows the line of defeat and optimism. It is a phrase that could be a painful sigh or an optimistic exhale to try, again, to find that sense of belonging in a romantic connection.
The first single released off the EP the comedown, examines the emotional hangover after a relationship ends. Been thinking lately that I'm broken / Like there's some rot inside my head//. Painfully authentic lyrics, Pittman explains that he writes best when he’s in the thick of it “It honestly is like therapy. It’s never going to feel as fresh as they are right now”. Pulling from his everyday life, Pittman has never shied away from being “too personal” in his lyricism, “I feel like the more personal you can get, it has the opposite effect, it ends up being more relatable”.
Pittman oozes cool guy confidence without ego, admitting that a little bit of delusion has helped his career flourish, “I think you can kind of manifest situations by being a bit delusional. I think if you want something enough, you can usually make it happen - I wrote a list of people I wanted to work with, and I got in the room with pretty much all of them”. One of those people being US singer-songwriter Abby Holiday who has opened for acts like Japanese House, James Bay and Phillip Phillips, collaborated with Pittman on his single think later, “I wanted to work with Abby for like, three years. She wrote this with me and added some backup vocals which was amazing”
Released in July think later explores the mess we can find ourselves in and how intoxicating a new relationship can be. “I was with someone who was the very opposite to me. I'm not a very spontaneous person. This person was chaotic and fun and kind of everything that I wasn't, really”. Common sense is overrated / Am I craving complicated?, a lyric that hits home to those who, whether they’d like to admit it or not, go against their gut for the thrill. Pittman admitted he wrote up to 12 songs about the same situation, “it was all consuming at that point, it had only been two months. It was very intense and very quick. I think those are the relationships that always impact you the most”. An all too familiar feeling for this generation of daters.
Charlie Pittmans’ EP okay. again?, is a brutally honest depiction of the cyclical nature of modern dating and relationships. Whether it be allowing someone to see every fibre of your being only for it to end in heartache or fabricating yourself into someone you're not, just to hold on a little longer. Pittman exposes his own faults openly, dissecting the moments many of us may feel but are unwilling or unable to express. An EP designed to be listened to and appreciated front to back, over and over, again.
