JESSICA MAUBOY I'm in CONTROL

A VETERAN OF THE LOCAL MUSIC SCENE AT JUST 33, THE SINGER HAS TAKEN CHARGE LIKE SHE NEVER HAS BEFORE

- Naomi Toy

Even Jessica Mauboy herself finds it hard to keep track of her many achievements since she first won over the nation and finished runner-up on Australian Idol in 2006. “This is my fifth, no sixth record – that’s so weird to say,” the diminutive hitmaker tells WHO about her upcoming release, which will feature her latest single, ‘Right Here, Right Now’. The Darwin-born singer and actress exudes a confidence she admits has sometimes eluded her, as she reveals her new music is full of layered emotion while bringing positivity to the airwaves.

Congratulations on your new single! Tell us a little about it.

Thank you so much. I wanted to create a pop song that allows the emotions to go up and down, to feel that and sift through that. I wanted to, within a song, embrace and acknowledge heartbreak, and the joy beyond that, the possibility. ‘Right Here, Right Now’ is an expression of, “I’m alive, I’m breathing, I’m right here, I’m right now, I’m doing what I’m meant to be doing”. 

It’s a song about empowerment and control. Do you feel more in control now of your career and your direction than you have in the past?