Starley shone bright with her 2016 breakthrough “Call On Me (Ryan Riback Remix),” which pumped in clubs across Europe last summer and hit the top 10 hit in the U.K. and her homeland Australia. She’s lighting it up all over again with “Been Meaning To Tell You” (Tinted Records), which Billboardpremieres today.
The up-tempo tropical-flecked tune had “a long process behind it,” Starley (full name Starley Hope) tells Billboard. “I wrote this record a while ago and just felt there was something special and relatable about it.” It was written about a guy who “liked me quite a lot,” she recalls. “I was always busy with music so I just figured he’d always be there and kind of blew him off. One night I saw him out at a club and it might have been liquid courage, but regardless, I was ready to tell him I how I felt about him and see where it could go. Of course, at that moment, this beautiful girl walks up and grabs his hand. I was a bit heartbroken. He looked so happy! I realized I’d lost my chance.” So, in the time-honored tradition, she poured out the pain in song.
The recording went through a few variations, the final version of which was produced by Cory Enemy. Listen below.
The Sydneysider will get a chance to reflect on her “Call on Me” breakthrough and its follow up, “Touch Me,” when the Aussie music industry gathers Nov. 28 for the annual ARIA Awards. “Call on Me” — which has raced past 650 million collective online streams, spent 33 weeks on the U.K. chart and is triple platinum Down Under — has been nominated for an ARIA Award, in the fan-voted song of the year category.
Starley is about to embark on a tour of the U.K. in support of Clean Bandit. And an album shouldn’t be too far off. “Well, that one is in the works,” Starley confirms to Billboard. “I’ve been working incredibly hard on it and am finishing up a few of the songs for it. It’s definitely coming next year. I promise.”