Rising star Audrey Hobert on Hannah Horvath, Mary-Kate Olsen and Glee
image via @audreyhobert / instagram
words by allie daisy king
The ‘Who’s The Clown’ singer gives us a hauntingly honest reflection of girlhood.
American singer Audrey Hobert showed up to our interview with wet hair, just like she sings in the track ‘Wet Hair’ on her debut album, Who’s The Clown. Fresh off an intimate show at The Toff in Melbourne the night prior (where the 300 or so tickets were highly coveted), she entered the FJ office with an undeniable presence, and was such a raconteur she instantly had the ear of every single person.
Whether she was talking about a vintage miniature mirror she found in boxes at her parents’ garage, or nattering about where she’s up to in her annual Gilmore Girls rewatch, Audrey is undoubtedly a born storyteller.
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Given that both herself and her brother Malcolm Todd are musicians, it’s clear to see the role creativity and the arts played in their household growing up (she’s also a former theatre kid). Post college at New York University, Audrey went on to work in the writers’ room for the Nickelodeon sitcom The Really Loud House until the series’ concluded in 2024.
This was only the start of her creative journey. She then went on to co-write numerous songs on her longtime friend Gracie Abrams’ album The Secret of Us, most notably the international smash hit ‘That’s So True’, which was one of the best songs to hit the TikTok editor community (I still think about this one edit of the bridge to the dearly-departed television series, My Lady Jane). Her other contributions to the album are the bangers ‘I Knew It, I Know You’ and ‘Blowing Smoke’.
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But what started for Audrey as a bit of fun with her bestie ended up lighting a fire inside her – and thank God for that, because otherwise we wouldn’t have one of the most promising artist debuts of the year.
Highlights from Who’s The Clown include the viral sensation ‘Sue Me’, where Audrey discusses the all-too-relatable feeling of yearning for a former flame to still fancy you, even after a split. In ‘Sex and the City’, she laments about how much her life is not like the seminal series, pondering the perils of desirability. The song ‘Phoebe’ is named after the venerated character from Friends, a track for quirky girls everywhere to sing into their hairbrushes after over-analysing everything they said in a conversation with a friend, singing about their own perceived “fucked up face”.
Audrey Hobert gives us a hauntingly honest reflection of girlhood; from wanting to lock your friend in a room and beg them to not go back to their horrible ex, to openly ruminating about the concept of desire in a way that feels timeless. She sings about being a Phoebe, identifies as a Mary-Kate (not Ashley) and has spoken many times about being Rachel Berry coded.
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She’s a girl who grew up on the internet, has a bank of references and isn’t afraid to use them in an intelligent and intertextual way. But now, she is becoming the reference. Her fans are posting outfits online saying how Audrey Hobert coded they are. She performed to a rapt audience who sang every word with their full chests out. Somehow, despite being a relatively new face to the pop scene with only 12 released songs under her belt, people understand her. While the singer was in town, we yapped to her about local shopping, her Substack, watching strangers, and Hannah Horvath.
Fashion Journal: Hi Audrey! Have you been doing any shopping during your time in Australia?
Audrey Hobert: Well, I didn’t know that Aesop was an Australian brand until I got here, and it was everywhere and it’s been gifted to me so beautifully and I’m obsessed. It’s kind of a luxury item in the States that I actually just started to let myself buy, but now I’m coming back with a bunch that I didn’t buy for myself, so… It’s not really fashion, but I’m obsessed.
What has your style evolution looked like?
I guess I always identified with the tomboy kind of girl, like between Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, I was always like Mary-Kate, Mary-Kate. Then when I got into middle school, I started to discover plaid skirts and flats. I’ve always loved fashion and felt very inspired by other people and wanted to dress to the nines. As I do this job, I just like to feel… it makes me more comfortable to feel like myself. And also, it just cuts my morning in half just not having to get dressed up. So I just like to feel like myself everywhere I go.
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What are some of your touring essentials?
I guess I’m not properly on a tour yet. I’ve just sort of been like bopping around the world this summer. But so far, I like to keep my favourite tea in a bag if I need it at night, it’s a colon cleansing tea. So if I need that, I like to have that. I’m getting better at packing, ‘cos I’ve never had a travel bag or anything, but I just got this LL Bean toiletry case and it’s actively been making me happy.
What’s the most meaningful piece of clothing you own?
Ooh, you know what? I got this Dries Van Noten coat at one of my favourite stores in New York and I put it on my body at the store and I was like, there she is. And then I ended up wearing it on the cover of my album and that was like a last-minute thing, where I had been fully styled for the cover. And then the night before I was like, ‘I need to dress myself’. So that outfit, I literally slapped together that morning. I’m at peace with it but the coat is, like, it’s not really meaningful, it’s just literally my favourite thing I own.
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Where do you get your fashion inspiration from?
I’m very inspired by people I see on the street, like strangers. I just think it’s more fun for me to put a fantasy onto a stranger who I think looks cool on the street because then it’s sort of, I’ve made somebody up and I just really like the way they look. I guess you could say street fashion, but street fashion meaning people I see on the street. Honestly, the fashion in the show Girls, especially Hannah, she looks really bad most of the time, but to me, it’s good.
You’ve written songs about Sex and the City and Friends. Because of your love of Glee and Gilmore Girls can we expect a themed song for one of them?
Well, I haven’t thought about that yet, but I was just watching Gilmore Girls this morning. I think like maybe, you know, who knows. Perhaps?
What song of yours would be covered on Glee and by who?
I mean, I would kill to see Rachel sing ‘Phoebe’. Like, that seems like an obvious one. Or Kurt do like ‘Drive’.
Just nothing sung by Will Scheuster.
Oh God, no!
A lot of your music has a central theme of voyeurism. In ‘Therapuss’ with Jake Shane, you speak on how at the infamous ‘Chateau’ party that people “didn’t know you”. Do you think that as your star rises more and more, people will be more careful and curated with what they allow you to witness?
Oh, yeah, I’ve thought about that. I would hope not. You know, I think probably ultimately people don’t care… But yeah, I would hate for that to happen because that’s like a manipulated reality that I don’t want to live in that’s based on people being afraid, I guess, of what I might see or think of them. And I don’t want to live in that world. And also, I genuinely don’t think anyone would ever care that much.
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I feel as if your music is a push and pull between your confidence and self awareness in songs like ‘Chateau’, and then this underlying anxiety that almost feels like an intrusive thought which can be seen in ‘Sex and the City’ and ‘Phoebe’. Can you speak more on this dichotomy?
I think it’s just kind of what it is to be alive, like I would not classify myself as an anxious person, but I do have anxieties. And I think the reason why I like to, in my music, make everything okay… is because I like to feel empowered as I write the music. So I can’t really imagine a world where I just, you know, flat out complain the entire time, even though that might be really cathartic for me to write. I don’t think I would ever want to release a song like that, but who knows, maybe in the future?
On your Substack you posed a very important philosophical question: would you rather have Gypsy-Rose Blanchard’s life or die in The Hunger Games? Is there a correct answer, and what does ones answer say about them.
Yeah. Well, shout out Savannah, my cousin for coming up with that question. I think the most common answer is dying in The Hunger Games. I can’t remember who said Gypsy-Rose’s life, but for me, it’s die in The Hunger Games. I think it sounds like more of a prison to have Gypsy-Rose’s life. But she seems like she’s doing fine now. I don’t really keep up, so don’t take my word for it.
Keep up with Audrey here.
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