Annie Hamilton

Revisits the Origins of ‘The Prologue (Seven Storeys Up)’

Photos: Rahnee Bliss

With her new single ‘the prologue (seven storeys up)’, Annie Hamilton returns to the origins of a song already loved — this time through a version that feels glitchy and ethereal, raucous yet angelic. A companion to ‘seven storeys up’, the track revisits the earliest demo that inspired the album cut, capturing the raw emotion and vivid detail that first sparked its creation. It’s a nostalgic, cinematic trip through memory — equal parts chaos and clarity.

Ahead of her headline set at The Tsk Tsk Stage for King Street Crawl, we caught up with Annie to talk about unearthing this earlier version, her creative synergy with producer Chloe Dadd, and how her fashion and music live in the same shimmering, deconstructed universe. From tours with The National to stitching upcycled stage fits from Vinnies finds, Annie reflects on this electric chapter — and the thrill of being fully present when it matters most.

Your new track, ‘the prologue (seven storeys up)’, feels like a dreamlike companion to ‘seven storeys up’. What made you want to revisit the original demo and share this earlier version of the story?

I worked on my album stop and smell the lightning sporadically over a period of about 2.5 years, and seven storeys up evolved so much during that time. It felt like every time I sat down with my guitar I'd write a new verse - I ended up with about 50 verses by the time we finished recording it, which I culled down to the album version. A couple of months after I released the album, I went back and listened to my earliest demo, and actually fell back in love with it. It felt equal parts euphoric and nostalgic. I just had this urge to release, to tell the whole story. 

There’s a hazy, cinematic quality to ‘the prologue’ — a real sense of fleeting memories and vivid emotions. What were some of the images or moments that shaped the song’s atmosphere?

I think of this song as a shimmering glitchy supercut of a billion different images. While the album version of seven storeys up has more abstraction in the lyrics, I love how literal the lyrics from the prologue are. I love the plainness of the language and how it allows space for the swirling production. Literally everything that I sing about happened at some point - lying on a corrugated iron rooftop spying on the neighbours, sitting cross-legged on the kitchen bench underneath flickering fluorescent lights, crashing my car outside the ice rink in a desperate attempt to go ice-skating, dancing on park benches under a rotunda in a thunderstorm. My favourite lyric is probably "hang your head over the railing, baby now you're weightless, seven storeys up, from the balcony you say it" - the feeling of leaning over a balcony and watching the world below you, feeling simultaneously so tiny and insignificant and like you're flying, weightless, invincible. 

You co-produced the track with Chloe Dadd. How did that collaboration influence the sound, and what did each of you bring to the process?

Chloe and I have been friends for years - I first met them when I was recording my first album the future is here but it feels kinda like the past and they assisted with engineering. Chlo is such an insaaanely incredible artist, producer, musician, everything. We've been working on a bunch of my songs together over the last few months and the process has been so beautiful and flowy and creative. I had most of the elements of the prologue fleshed out in the demo that I had recorded and we stayed pretty true to that stylistically and arrangement-wise, but we also added a bunch of things like acoustic guitar, BVs and some synths that added depth and supercharged the vision of the song.

You’re headlining The Tsk Tsk Stage at King Street Crawl this year — who else on the lineup are you excited to catch or share the day with?

I'm actually so keen to watch everyone else, it's such a good lineup! Deep Sea Arcade especially -  inject that jangly nostalgia into my veinsssss.

You're known not only for your music but also for your work in fashion. How do those two creative worlds feed into each other for you?  

I feel like it's the same creative energy just being channeled through different materials. Aesthetically and sonically they live in the same universe - translucent layers, raw textures, imperfections, deconstructed pieces, the pairing of shimmer and grit. Whenever I'm working on something creative and I hit a wall, I just shift my energy into a different medium and I feel like it gets the ideas flowing again, like getting the blood moving. I'm making an outfit for the King Street Crawl show - it's a matching set upcycled out of a suit that I bought at Vinnies - I haven't finished it yet butttt I think it's gonna be cool. 

Between your AIR Award nomination, a top 20 ARIA debut, and recent tours with artists like The National and Lime Cordiale — how does it feel to reflect on this chapter of your journey so far?

It's honestly so wild. It feels like only a few years ago I was playing guitar in my bedroom desperately wishing to be in a band but being way too shy to ever sing or play in front of anyone. So to actually pause and look at where I'm at is pretty insane. I think being an artist in this day and age can often feel like you're just yelling into an abyss and the music is not reaching anyone, but then I get a DM from someone telling me that one of my songs is getting them through a break-up or inspiring them to start painting again, and it feels so worth it. That's why I'm so excited for this show on Sunday... playing live feels so sacred - it's a chance to be hyper-present, to connect with real humans IRL through music and to just enjoy the moment, nothing compares.