THREE guesses what Hayley Marsten's new album Spectacular Heartbreak is about.
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It's been a formative year for the alternate country artist, after she went through two breakups and achieved new heights of success in her music career.
"It's not about the most fun time in my life," Marsten said.
"I went through two breakups which is gold for a country musician, but I didn't want the album to sound sad or like I was wallowing in sadness.
"Don't get me wrong, there are definitely some songs on it that are sad but by the time I was finished I came out the other side of those horrible times, I've done so much work on myself because of those shitty things."
The title track, Spectacular Heartbreak earned Marsten a Golden Guitar nomination and joined the ranks of Justin Beiber and Five Seconds of Summer as the sixth most-added song to Australian radio across all genres.
What's perhaps more compelling is the faith the public had in a record that didn't exist yet.
As an independent artist Marsten crowdfunded her album and said she was touched by the number of people willing to support a sound they hadn't heard.
I went through two breakups which is gold for a country musician, but I didn't want the album to sound sad or like I was wallowing in sadness.
- Hayley Marsten
The album was recorded and released in just 12 weeks before Marsten shot off on a 20-date tour.
"I am dramatic at times and have a big personality, I wanted to have light and shade and all the emotions that go with spectacular heartbreaks," she said.
"This time it was all of the recording money which was really daunting and kind of scary because I didn't know if people would want to hear the record."
Marsten said she was encouraged by the support and it's a big part of the reason why she worked so hard in the studio.
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After a huge year, Marsten is taking a well-deserved break.
"I'm taking a bit of a breather because it became obvious in Tamworth that I haven't had any time off since February which is a bit of an intense slog," she said.
"I wanted to have some down time to get back to the reason I started doing it, write some songs and celebrate what I've achieved."
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