| 18th August 2002 |
Operation Heidi:
Ella, her brother Jesse, and fellow band members Warren Jenkins and Adam Pedretti are preparing to launch their first new single, Outside Of Me, since Heavensent was released in December last year. The band had to take time out from recording the new album while the 19-year-old singer recovered from the operation to remove a cyst. "I recorded Heavensent before the operation and then it took a really long time to recover," the bubbly Hooper said. "It was a very frustrating and annoying time. "I only considered a couple of times that my voice could disappear forever but while it's changed forever, it's a lot better. I am up for going out and singing." Any fears the band had about their fans forgetting them while Ella recovered were dispelled during a performance at St Ignatius College last week. "We were performing three songs at their school assembly to thank them for their work with disabled people and 30 seconds in, all the chairs were flying and kids were crowd surfing," Jesse laughed. "It was so inspirational, because these guys knew their music and they loved the new song as well." Killing Heidi stormed to the top of the Australian charts with their debut album, Reflector, in 2000, selling half a million copies and sweeping the ARIA awards. The band were bewildered by their phenomenal success and admit they were affected by some unpleasant aspects of the music industry. An element of fury generated by those experiences and their relentless touring schedule have also impacted on the sound and content of the new album, which will be released on October 25. "The lyrics are more emotional," Ella said. "On Reflector, it was all about being rebellious, where this album will address more of our inner turmoil. "This time, I'm not just complaining about something, I want to share some of the things I went through that other people do too." Outside Of Me will be released on September 23. |