Fast becoming a favourite in the alt-folk worlds, Naarm/Melb-based country-ish singer and guitarist Annie-Rose Maloney writes music about the deep kernels of pain we all carry around in our pockets.
Maloney’s story is a fascinating one, and one that doesn’t typically accompany a musician’s rise to fame. Being raised on Wadawurrung Country with a piano in the house and a granny who yodelled at bedtime isn’t necessarily unique, and nor is growing inspired by the likes of k.d. lang’s Hymns Of 49th Parallel, The Be Good Tanyas, and The Waifs.
But it was after she played a single One Day International (ODI) for the Australia women’s cricket team against India in July 2011, that Maloney first started on music in earnest – launching and ending her first award-winning band, Murdena.
Following Murdena’s demise, Maloney spent the next decade working upon her solo career, utilising her simple ethos when it comes to write music: It must have a pulse, it must feel nice to sing, and it must bear a truthfulness about our human experiences. It’s this assured presence that holds the audience gently as they move through moments of heartbreak, loneliness and elation.
After the release of her debut single, ‘Lost In Coburg,’ in 2020, Maloney has been slowly ticking items off the musical bucket list; supporting names such as Angel Olsen, Hurray For The Riff Raff, Angie McMahon, Hachiku, and Andy Shauf, even before a full body of work arrived.
“So much guts and glory wrapped in a sweet and soft sound bath.” – Kath Devaney, ABC Country
Annie-Rose Maloney – ‘I Run From Pain’
However, in early 2025, she unveiled her debut album, Circle Walking, a collection of tracks recorded in a living room in Heidelberg in Naarm/Melbourne’s northeast with co-producer Tim Harvey (Aldous Harding, Jade Imagine, Lisa Mitchell), with Jess Ellwood on guitar, backing vocals from Angie McMahon, Ruby Gill and Olivia Hally (Oh Pep!).
Written over many years, Circle Walking was made with the intention to create in a way that reflected the law of least effort, that’s most often seen in nature. “I intentionally explored how nature embodies this principle in everything—bees instinctively find the shortest and most efficient routes to find the pollen. Birds don’t try to fly; they just fly, effortlessly,” Maloney explained. “I wanted to connect with my intrinsic creative self without expending unnecessary energy or resources.”
Crafted with a goal of allowing the album’s entire process – from recording to release – to unfold naturally and without any external influence, Circle Walking is Maloney at her most raw and pure, showcasing one of the country’s brightest force operating at its fullest capabilities and showing an exciting sign of what the future holds.
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