Single Review: Zara Chantelle | ‘Toxic Ex’

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There was a new track that slid across my desk last week and this one stuck with me.  I get lots of requests these days to check out new music from various artists via their management or record label. However, this one came straight from the artist and from the Land Down Under. Not to be confused with The Upside Down from Stranger Things (old punk head trying to keep up with the kids), this is from Australia. I received a very polite and straight forward message, asking me to simply check it out if I could, from a musician named Zara Chantelle. I listen to everything that everyone sends me by the way and her new single ‘Toxic Ex’ stuck its nails into my craw and would not let go. So I had to investigate this artist further. Then I found out that she was just nineteen years old and the song hit even harder because I was shocked by the lyrical wisdom of someone so young. I’m not sure what I was doing at nineteen but it was definitely fueled by drugs and certainly nonsensical. 

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Zara is from Adelaide, South Australia and she possesses a gift for incorporating catchy melodies and lyrics that reflect her personal experiences. She creates endearing and passionate pop-rock songs that will leave you moved. I went back and listened to more of her catalogue before taking on the project presented. It’s hard to give a complete evaluation when someone hands you a new single and says “can you listen to this and tell me what you think?” I tend to ask for more first and I want to know how the creator got to this space. It could be that the music they are handing me has nothing to do with previous work, but I still feel like it may have been shaped somewhere else first. That’s my process, for what it is worth.

When I asked Zara about her process she said this, “When I write a song, I often write from my emotions, so if I’m angry or passionate then I will write about it! Sometimes it comes from my experiences, or sometimes it comes from the experiences I see around me or even something I have seen online. But I usually start at 3am when I wake up with a song idea and record it onto my phone, and then the next day form that melody and lyrics into a chorus or verse of a song and build off of that and add instruments!” And let me just add that you can barely hear her accent through email. 

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She has released her first three singles, ‘Happiness’, ‘When The Weekend Ends’, and ‘Good Man’, across all streaming platforms and I am happy to have received ‘Toxic Ex’ before its release date which is October 9th.  When asked about the new song she told me “It is a sharp, unapologetic pop-rock anthem about the person who’s supposed to have your back—but instead makes you question everything about yourself. From body comments and sexist expectations to being told you’re “too argumentative” or ‘all in your head,’ the song turns years of criticism into one big fuck-you.” Here are some of those lyrics:

You’re the one who’s meant to be supportive

The one who’s never meant to call out all my flaws

‘Till I’m on the floor at four in the morning

You’re the one who makes me sure

Sure I’ll always know I’m wrong

That I’m the problem

So I’ll pack my bags and move to an island

There is certainly power in the song and an undeniable strength looking to recapture something that wasn’t necessarily taken away, but was forced down deep. Zara further explained that the song “captures what it feels like when someone else’s voice gets so loud that you start hearing it in your own head. It’s about the damage of constantly being told ‘you’re the problem’ and the moment you finally realize you don’t have to keep playing their version of you.” It becomes an emotionally charged power-pop song, but it starts light, with starry piano chords twinkling in a reflective state. As the song builds and our insightful maestro creates an ambience of pain, there is a crescendo into something bigger and driving drums meld with some high-powered electric overtones and this is where she looks to take her self-worth back.

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When I questioned if this work was autobiographical she wrote back, “No! Toxic Ex isn’t a step-by-step account of a situation, but it does pull elements of different situations together! The song is about misogyny in the music industry and how, as a woman, I am expected to position myself, and ‘taking the piss’ of how people who have these expectations might view me!” Calling out the toxic masculinity in her songs is clearly evident and as a Gen X male, I absolutely dig it. We seem to talk about these traits a lot and we point them out all the time, but real change needs to start happening soon and I believe that there is a slight shift in the paradigm but let’s not take our foot of the gas. Zara has the right idea and it makes me proud to know that a fight and a revolution is still happening. Evolution is necessary. The chorus lashes out:

Just a girl so I’m useless

You think that I’m stupid

You’re all in my head 

You’re like a toxic ex

An excerpt from her website reads, “Almost every single one of my friends has been in a toxic relationship, and like most, you don’t see the abuse or toxicity until the damage is done. After watching them all finally happy, a lot of them said to me, ‘Wow, so this is what it feels like’, to finally feel loved and find someone who treats you right.” When you listen to ‘Toxic Ex’ you can hear her compassion basted in angst and wanting to release her peers from their abusive shackles. The song is determined and with memorable wordsmithing the message is engrained. 

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I inquired about the indie Australian music scene and she gave me this, “The music scene in Australia is small but connected! Everyone is friends, which is great to have such a close-knit community! Since I’m from Adelaide, a lot of major cities are so far away, which makes touring very difficult and expensive in comparison to the US, but it also means it’s less saturated!” Zara also told me to be on the lookout for Aleksiah, The Tullamarines, and G Flip. She says “they are amazing artists and bands that I have been listening to at the moment! I am definitely inspired by all of them and the way they incorporate such catchy melodies with detailed instrumentation!” When asked if she wanted to add anything else she closed with, ““If you like Olivia Rodrigo, Aleksiah, Gracie Abrams, Taylor Swift, or Missy Higgins, then you’re gonna love crying to my songs🐘”. What is the elephant all about? Follow her on Instagram to find out more and most importantly go see her live if you are in South Australia. Her debut EP is due in May of 2027, and it’s titled, Things I Didn’t Tell My Therapist.