Melody Pool

{{Short description|Australian country-folk musician}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

{{Infobox musical artist

| name = Melody Pool

| image = Melody Pool (October, 2015).jpg

| caption = Melody Pool at Dashville Skyline 2015

| origin = Kurri Kurri, New South Wales

| genre = Country, Folk

| label = Liberation Music, Bloodlines

| website = {{URL|melodypool.com.au}}

}}

Melody Pool is an Australian country-folk musician from Kurri Kurri, New South Wales.{{Cite web |last=O'Neill |first=Stephanie |date=4 May 2016 |title=Getting Dark And Deep With Melody Pool |url=https://scenestr.com.au/music/getting-dark-and-deep-with-melody-pool |access-date=2022-03-20 |website=scenestr |language=en-gb}}

She first stepped on stage with her father, country musician Alby Pool, when she was 8 years old, and was performing solo aged 9.{{Cite web |last=Milligan |first=Nick |date=6 December 2012 |title=Melody Pool: from Kurri to Nashville |url=https://www.maitlandmercury.com.au/story/1168899/melody-pool-from-kurri-to-nashville/ |access-date=2022-03-20 |website=The Maitland Mercury |language=en-AU}}

During her teens Pool played in her father's band, and began releasing her own music starting with the EP Heart to Heart Talk in 2008.{{Cite web |last=Smith |first=Michael |date=8 July 2014 |title=Why Melody Pool And Marlon Williams Are Teaming Up |url=https://themusic.com.au/features/melody-pool-marlon-williams/Iuo1NDc2OTg/08-07-14 |access-date=2022-03-20 |website=The Music |language=en}} This was followed by another EP Awake, You’re All Around Me in 2011, before she crowdfunded money to travel to Nashville in September 2012 to record her debut album The Hurting Scene.

Produced by Brad Jones and Jace Everett, the album was recorded in six days and released in 2013.{{Cite web |last=Jun |first=Simon |date=10 June 2014 |title=Country Living With Melody Pool |url=https://scenestr.com.au/music/country-living-with-melody-pool |access-date=2022-03-20 |website=scenestr |language=en-gb}} Initially released independently, Pool was then signed to Liberation Music and Mushroom Music Publishing who reissued the album in July 2013.{{Cite web |title=Melody Pool Biography, Songs, & Albums |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/melody-pool-mn0003143087/biography |access-date=2022-03-20 |website=AllMusic |language=en}}

In 2014 she covered Joni Mitchell's River for Katie Noonan's collaborative album Songs That Made Me. The album reached #7 on the ARIA Compilation Chart.{{cite web |date=27 October 2014 |title=ARIA Report Week Commencing ~ 27 October 2014 ~ Issue #1287 |url=http://www.aria.com.au/issue1287.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20141030221300/http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/23790/20141031-0913/issue1287.pdf |archive-date=2014-10-30 |publisher=Australian Recording Industry Association |accessdate=26 April 2016}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}

After moving to Coburg, Victoria, she began writing her next album Deep Dark Savage Heart which was released in 2016.{{Cite web |last=Priest |first=Annika |date=3 May 2016 |title=Melody Pool’s album Deep Dark Savage Heart bares her battles with depression |url=https://www.heraldsun.com.au/leader/north/melody-pools-album-deep-dark-savage-heart-tells-the-story-of-her-depression/news-story/f851e4855f8efb87ca117bd1d8966d9b |access-date=2022-03-20 |website=Herald Sun}} It was listed as #50 on Rolling Stone Australia{{'}}s 50 Best Albums of 2016.{{Cite web |date=2016-12-14 |title=50 Best Albums of 2016 |url=https://au.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/50-best-albums-of-2016-1510/ |access-date=2022-03-20 |website=Rolling Stone Australia |language=en-AU}}

Following the album release and tour, Pool said she would take a break from music to put her mental health first.{{Cite news |last=Hawkins |first=Belinda |date=20 February 2017 |title=Singer-songwriter Melody Pool puts heartache on the page in depression battle |language=en-AU |work=ABC News |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-02-20/melody-pool-steps-back-from-music-career-after-depression/8158710 |access-date=2022-03-20}} She spoke about her battles with depression on a 2017 episode of ABC's Australian Story which focused on her music career and mental health struggles.{{Citation |title=Unchained Melody |date=2017-02-20 |url=https://www.abc.net.au/austory/unchained-melody/8274176 |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |language=en-AU |access-date=2022-03-20}}{{Cite web |date=21 February 2017 |title=Melody Pool: When heartbreak masks something more serious |url=https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/news-life/melody-pool-when-heartbreak-masks-something-more-serious/news-story/a3656944c2e34de2011ff1464b961797 |access-date=2022-03-20 |website=News.com.au}}

In 2020 Pool revealed she was recording a new album on a farm in regional NSW, and began playing new songs live in 2021.{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=20 April 2021 |title=Melody Pool 2021 Australia Tour |url=https://scenestr.com.au/music/melody-pool-2021-australia-tour-20210420 |access-date=2022-03-20 |website=scenestr |language=en-gb}}{{Cite web |last=Dwyer |first=Michael |date=8 April 2020 |title=Out of her seclusion, Melody Pool emerges with caged fury and bliss |url=https://www.smh.com.au/culture/music/out-of-her-seclusion-melody-pool-emerges-with-caged-fury-and-bliss-20200408-p54i82.html |access-date=2022-03-20 |website=The Sydney Morning Herald |language=en}}