The ARIA-nominated songwriter and Little Birdy frontwoman is stripping everything back for her undressed national tour.
There’s a moment in every artist’s career where the armour comes off.
For Katy Steele, it happened in a studio in July, when she sat down and recorded an entire album in a single day. No overdubs. No safety net. Just voice, piano, guitar and whatever truth came out.
The result is undressed, a collection slated for release on 24 April that represents a conscious departure from everything Steele has built her reputation on. Where Little Birdy gave us layered, band-driven indie rock and her solo work pushed into more expansive territory, undressed strips the architecture down to its load-bearing walls: one voice, one instrument, and the emotional weight of songs that have nowhere to hide.
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Recorded in a day, built over years
The album was captured largely in single takes, but it’s not a record that appeared out of thin air. Alongside the July session, undressed draws from unreleased recordings made over the years in New York and Los Angeles — material that had been sitting in the dark, waiting for the right context. That context turned out to be a transformative period in Steele’s life, one shaped by parenthood and a sharpened sense of urgency.
“I’ve always played solo and I’ve always enjoyed the pressure that comes with stripping everything away,” Steele says. “I think since having kids and realising how short life is — I felt the need to start being way more prolific.”
She’s labelled the record Volume 1, and that’s deliberate. Undressed isn’t a one-off creative exercise; it’s the start of a new mode of working defined by momentum and regular output. The project also includes reimagined versions of Little Birdy favourites, solo cuts and a set of carefully chosen covers — among them a tender reworking of Lou Reed’s Perfect Day that serves as the album’s lead single.
The art of choosing someone else’s song
@katy_steele New song out ! Your beautiful to me !! #beautiful #fyp #katysteele #littlebirdy
The covers component was partly inspired by Cat Power’s celebrated Covers record, and Steele says the process of reinterpreting other people’s work came with a surprising kind of freedom.
“I actually felt less vulnerable doing covers than my own songs,” she admits. “Just making it your own and not pressuring yourself too much — there will always be people that don’t like what you do, but it’s the same with releasing your own music.”
That ease shows in the way she talks about the project. There’s no grand artistic manifesto here, no tortured creative process. Undressed was born from escapism that became something more — an intentional decision to let songs exist as they were written, imperfect and unpolished.
Two people, one stage, nowhere to hide
The undressed tour, presented by Double J, translates that philosophy into a live format that’s genuinely rare for an artist of Steele’s stature. Each show features just two performers: Steele and one other musician, working through the album’s material alongside reworked catalogue tracks.
“I guess I’ve always been behind an instrument — guitar or a piano mostly,” she says. “This show will focus mostly on my voice and be the focal point for a lot of the show. There will be an array of different instruments but the basis of the show will be based around the intimacy of these songs and the power of simplicity.”
It’s a format that makes the voice the main event, and Steele is clear-eyed about what that demands. “It makes you focus more on the voice and the space between the voice,” she says. “This record really brings my voice to the front and it’s nice to just embrace simplicity. Embrace the space between. Embrace the vulnerability.”
For anyone used to seeing Steele in full-band mode — whether with Little Birdy or on her solo tours — the undressed shows promise something genuinely different. No backing tracks, no safety net, just musicianship and whatever energy fills the room on the night.
“It’s liberating to just rely on yourself as an artist and embrace the flaws and the energy that comes with that.”
The undressed tour hits Northcote Social Club on 1 May. For tickets and more information, head here.
