It’s taken Kita Alexander a decade to debut her first album, Young In Love. That’s not to say the singer-songwriter has been idle—Kita has spent a large portion of her 20s giving birth, both literally and metaphorically.
Four EPs, over a dozen singles, a wedding and two children later, the musician tells Cosmopolitan Australia, “I’m so glad I waited all this time. I don’t think any body of work before Young In Love would have done my heart justice.”Now in her late 20s and with a wealth of experience in the bank, she says, “If I had written it any sooner I would not have loved it as much as I do now.”
While Young In Love is the result of a long gestation, it only took four weeks to write. Kita meant business. She refused to be separated from her family, including husband pro-surfer Owen Wright, marking it as a condition of re-signing her contract with Warner. Her youngest, Rumi, was barely a one-year-old at the time, so all the songwriting and recording took place in her home studio or over a mushroom cacao at Byron Bay’s High Life cafe.
Along with being a practical boundary, Kita believes staying in Byron Bay had a transformative effect on her sound and songwriting. She is, after all, a country girl at heart.
“Clear running water, sunshine, green grass and a clear sky” is her recipe for success, all of which are trickier to come by in London or Los Angeles.
That doesn’t mean Kita is opposed to a little glam. She was “over the moon” when Maybelline came calling—the pair partnered on its BORN WITH IT campaign. “I don’t wear a ton of makeup but I love a good skin tint, a good little spot cover-up and a great mascara. Maybelline’s Firework Mascara is my absolute go-to.”
At home, Kita felt comfortable enough to dig into the complicated truths of adulthood: estrangement, lust, rejection. One track that stands out is ‘Bigger Person’—the lyrics detail her frustration with having to parent a parent. “My songwriting is what I’m most proud of,” she says. “I’d describe myself as a girl who has a lot to say and says it best in her lyrics. Put me on the spot to make a speech and I’ll never be able to get my words out. Give me pen and paper and that’s where I come to life.”
Catch Kita Alexander during her Young In Love regional tour across Australia this October and November.
This article originally appeared in Issue 02 of Cosmopolitan Australia. Get your copy and subscribe to future issues here.
