Ella Thompson – Cool Down My Heart

The voice of Ella Thompson has been a fundamental part of Naarm’s soul and funk history. She has toured and recorded with funk pioneers The Bamboos, lit up dance floors with electronic duo GL and won hearts and minds across Australia with indie cult favourites Dorsal Fins. Ella now returns to her soul roots and releasing music under her own name with a brand new single ‘Cool Down My Heart’, self-produced in collaboration with multi instrumentalist Liam McGorry and featuring cameos by local heavyweights Hudson Whitlock (drums) and Will Morrisey (saxophone). Cool Down My Heart is a rich, imaginative, pop/soul track which foregrounds Ella’s beautiful voice and considerable songwriting skills.

The track begins with a fade in of whirring synthesizers before roomy drums, woody bass and chanking guitar enter. Perfectly executed backing harmonies introduce us to the instantly hummable chorus melody and Ella’s vocal soars in between classic soul horn lines. In the out-of-leftfield bridge a brief acoustic piano interlude gives way to the horn section before we’re thrown back into the chorus and a final saxophone solo takes us out. Of the single Ella says, “This song felt like a bit of a turning point in the sound I was producing. Returning to my soul and funk roots felt very intuitive. The groove felt uplifting to us while the lyrics are about working hard to maintain a tranquility base when faced with challenges. Hearing this music come to life live with my 7-piece band has been a real dream come true and we can’t wait to play more.”