The Jezabels’ Hayley Mary Goes Solo With “The Piss, The Perfume”

One of Australia’s last great pub bands (all that gigging is passé in the streaming age), The Jezabels released three universally-acclaimed albums in the ’00s. With the group on hiatus since dropping “The Others” in 2017, it was only a matter of time before frontwoman Hayley Mary went solo. Her brilliantly-titled debut single, “The Piss, The Perfume,” arrives today (October 11) and it’s a warm blast of Australiana that was written when she lived above a watering hole in Sydney.

“Friday and Saturday nights would end up as late-night jam sessions when the pub closed,” Hayley remembers. “Friends would listen to music — I remember a lot of The Go-Betweens and Paul Kelly.” Those two artists (circa 1986) are pretty good markers for the loose, jangly alt-pop of “The Piss, The Perfume.” Which doubles as both a love song and an ode to the singer/songwriter’s hometown. “I was newly in love and felt I was leaving a lot of sadness behind and this song came out of that,” she explains.

The video, which was directed by Mclean Stephenson, reflects both the era and location that inspired the song. “It was not the pretty Harbour Bridge or the Opera house, but the normal life things I missed,” Hayley says of the clip’s grungy portrait of Sydney. “Like the pub or the footy field or a pie shop.” Fall in love with the very, very good “The Piss, The Perfume” below.

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