MEG-MEL | INTERVIEW + TRACK REVIEW
There's something fascinating about an artist who can turn their deepest insecurities into something theatrical, yet still feel uncomfortable admitting those same feelings in an ordinary conversation. For Melbourne-based singer-songwriter meg-mel, humour, exaggeration and a healthy dose of melodrama have become both a creative language and a form of self-protection. Her latest single, Everything Dramatic, explores that contradiction with an almost mischievous self-awareness, navigating loneliness, desire and the fear of vulnerability through a character who seems determined to make everything bigger than it needs to be. But beneath the theatrics lies something surprisingly delicate: an artist trying to work out how much of herself she's comfortable revealing, even when she's the one writing the script.
Having spent years as the voice of Singapore-based Burmese Bombshells, meg-mel's move into solo music wasn't initially driven by some grand artistic reinvention. With the band separated by geography and changing priorities, the opportunity to create independently arrived at a moment when inspiration simply refused to wait. Written in a tiny apartment before being brought to life at Studio Chaddy alongside Jeremy Chua and Michael Bradshaw, Everything Dramatic became the catalyst for an entirely new creative chapter. Its intricate arrangements, theatrical flourishes and carefully considered production reflect an artist who isn't afraid of excess, but there's an interesting tension between the confidence of the music and the vulnerability of the person behind it.
Perhaps what's most compelling about meg-mel is that she doesn't pretend to have herself figured out. She's willing to question her own emotional contradictions, argue with the person who wrote her songs and acknowledge that even her most revealing lyrics might still be hiding something. There's an honesty in that uncertainty, particularly when so much of modern music seems determined to present vulnerability as something neatly understood and overcome. We caught up with meg-mel to explore the complicated relationship between humour and emotional honesty, the creative freedom of stepping out on her own, the making of Everything Dramatic and why sometimes the most revealing thing an artist can do is admit they're still figuring out who they are.
TRACK REVIEW -
There's something wonderfully cinematic about meg-mel's Everything Dramatic. From the opening moments, we're transported into a world that wouldn't feel out of place in a James Bond film, with an atmosphere that's subtle, mysterious and deeply emotional. There's a certain elegance to the production, with an underlying tension that gives the track a sense of anticipation. It's the kind of song that feels like it belongs alongside the opening credits of a film, where every sound contributes to something much bigger than the music itself.
What makes this track particularly fascinating is the contrast between its sophisticated musical atmosphere and the emotional chaos unfolding in the lyrics. meg-mel explores the blurred lines between love, obsession and the desire to feel something intensely, even when that intensity becomes destructive. There's a particularly interesting moment where she questions whether she's craving the person themselves or simply the attention they provide. It's a surprisingly vulnerable admission beneath all the melodrama, and one that gives the song a deeper emotional weight. Rather than presenting herself as someone who has everything figured out, she embraces the contradictions, creating a character who seems equally fascinated and frustrated by her own behaviour.
The production is another standout, gradually building in complexity as the track progresses. There's a wonderful collection of sounds woven throughout the instrumental, with each new layer adding another dimension without overwhelming the emotional core of the song. What begins as something relatively restrained slowly develops into a more intricate and theatrical arrangement, perfectly complementing the lyrical themes. Everything Dramatic is a beautifully considered piece of songwriting that manages to feel grand without losing its intimacy. Cinematic, emotionally charged and full of intriguing musical details, it's a track that rewards your attention from beginning to end.
You’ve described your songwriting as taking feelings you’re experiencing in real time and then hyperbolising them. With “Everything Dramatic,” where does the exaggeration end and the uncomfortable truth actually begin? Is making something bigger sometimes the safest way for you to admit that a smaller, very real feeling exists underneath it?
For sure, but I think in the case of “Everything Dramatic”, I derive the most safety in how I oscillate between first and third-person throughout the track when expressing anything uncomfortable – kinda like the way I do in real life. I have a lot of trouble admitting vulnerability on the regular, and “Everything Dramatic” mirrors that sort of tendency to deflect, speak in hypotheticals, or hyperbolise just so things are easier to brush off. Where does the exaggeration end? That’s a bit blurry even to me. I think the underlying sentiments are absolutely real. Loneliness, fears of commitment, desire, et cetera. None of them are exaggerated at all, just packaged in melodrama because I guess that’s just the way I communicate. And it’s also what people have come to expect of me over time, so maybe I tend to inflate things because if I strip that all back, I worry that new seriousness might put people off.
There’s something fascinating about calling a song “Everything Dramatic” when you also describe your everyday personality as facetious and unserious. Does humour function as armour for you, and does songwriting let you temporarily take that armour off without having to announce that you’re doing it?
Humour is arguably my greatest armour and you’ve hit the nail on the head in terms of what this track (and the EP it’s part of) did for me. But I wouldn’t say all my songwriting exists to take the armour off, sometimes I fall into a pattern of feeding into it instead – even in the one song.
Like how some lines in “Everything Dramatic” reveal a softness in how I might just want to be held, but in the same breath, I paint a picture of an earth-shattering haemorrhagic breakdown I claim to want in relationships. Obviously, I don’t actually! That’s horrible. But again, I feel compelled to lean into pre-conceived narratives of me – in this case, it’s a messy and flippant stance on love – even when I’m simultaneously trying to dismantle the armour and tell the truth. She’s pretty thick, that armour.
You’ve said there are things you'll put into lyrics that would feel far too vulnerable or “off-brand” to say in ordinary life. Is there anything in “Everything Dramatic” that you could comfortably sing to a room full of strangers but would struggle to say plainly to one person?
Not so much in this track, given the whole “Everything Dramatic” bit aligns with my tendency to BE very dramatic, but “she gets lonely, weary” is a big one I couldn’t imagine saying. Which is silly since they’re such normal, human emotions but it’s off-brand and I just don’t like people feeling sad for me.
You write to understand your feelings in real time, which means you're documenting emotions before hindsight has had a chance to make them neat or reasonable. When you listen to “Everything Dramatic” now, do you agree with the person who wrote it, or do you sometimes want to argue with her?
I’m arguing with her relentlessly. I think she’s being ridiculous and would stand to gain so much more from admitting truths without that whole facetious charade, but the reality is I’m quite flip-floppy in nature. If I wrote this song (and my feelings) all over again, odds are it’d turn out the same.
Your music deals with identity and the way we manage how other people perceive us. When you wrote “Everything Dramatic,” were you trying to reveal something about yourself, or were you creating a heightened version of yourself that could say and do things the everyday meg-mel wouldn't? Where does that character stop and you begin?
Some lines are to reveal, some lines are to dramatise and distract from what’s been revealed. Even in music, I don’t feel safe enough to use it as a completely honest outlet yet – so I can’t definitively say it’s one or the other. As for where the character stops, my journal and I are still working that out.
You've spent years making music as the voice of Burmese Bombshells, but “Everything Dramatic” belongs to the beginning of meg-mel as a solo artist. Was there something about this song that needed your name and your world around it rather than being brought into a band environment?
Not necessarily. My decision to explore solo projects was more logistic – Burmese Bombshells is based in Singapore, and I’ve been in Melbourne for over 7 years. Making music together got really difficult cross-border and our respective priorities have changed heaps from when we were still in high school. But “Everything Dramatic” came to me like a FORCE last year.
I couldn’t put the track on hold nor wait for schedules to miraculously align because I think inspiration is meant to be acted on, and “Everything Dramatic” ultimately became a great catalyst. The moment I found the confidence and willingness to commit to making music on my own, it was like opening the floodgates to a million new ideas I then started working on too. And though it wasn’t my initial intention, I guess building this new world around meg-mel (instead of Burmese Bombshells) allowed me to explore more personal topics and get a bit more confessional around themes of identity and desire, without dragging the rest of my band into an exploration of my own psyche.
You describe masking and navigating other people's perceptions as recurring ideas in your writing. There's a strange freedom in deliberately being “dramatic,” because once you've admitted you're exaggerating, you can almost get away with telling the truth. Do you think the title gives you permission to be more honest?
Maybe, but I don’t think I’ve given myself permission to be more honest yet. Let’s check in again soon.
“Everything Dramatic” was written and composed in a tiny apartment before being taken into Studio Chaddy. When Jeremy Chua and Michael Bradshaw became involved, was there a moment where something that had previously existed entirely inside your head suddenly sounded frighteningly real? And did that change your relationship with the song?
YES! Jeremy and Michael are brilliant and have created such a safe space for us to work collaboratively on this, but I distinctly remember watching them listen to the demo for the first time and getting so nauseous about the fact that I was being perceived in real-time. Felt the same when they read the lyrics for the first time, and felt the same AGAIN when we were chatting over lunch about what prompted me to write this. But there’s also a thrill to the frighteningly real, I think. It was just as much cathartic and I felt a weight off my shoulders in finally saying these things for the first time.
You say you mostly obey every creative whim, which sounds liberating but potentially chaotic. With “Everything Dramatic,” was there ever an idea you nearly talked yourself out of because it felt too theatrical, strange or excessive, only to realise that excess was exactly what the song needed?
Surprisingly not. I think every theatrical flourish in “Everything Dramatic” was done with intention, like how the string ensemble arrangement (in the bridge) was actually the first part of the song I wrote – and still sounds pretty similar to my original demo. Bass octave doubling the strings, that one piano glissando, the stacking of harmonies, even specific hi-hat chokes and tempo changes. If anything, we kept adding more instead of less. There were a few more dramatic pauses in earlier versions though, which felt less like tension / teasing, and more queuing up at Coles. Those were taken out.
Imagine someone hears “Everything Dramatic” without knowing anything about meg-mel, Burmese Bombshells, the EP or the person who wrote it. What do you think the song accidentally reveals about you that you never consciously intended to put there?
I am constantly worried that the subtexts behind my songs go right over people's heads and if so, they’d just think I am a silly little girl addicted to toxic relationships. But if the opposite happens and someone goes even deeper than I intended, there’s a possibility that “Everything Dramatic” gets interpreted as a desperate need to feel alive. Not about love, not companionship, not drama for the sake of it. It’s wanting to fill an insatiable emotional appetite because I’m more familiar with intensity than stability. In my ideal world, I’d like to think they find me a fascinating character.
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