Louella Filmed Her Debut Video in Tokyo, in One Day

On a good day I get maybe three errands done before something breaks or someone naps. Louella shot a music video in six locations across Tokyo in a single day, for her very first single. I'm not saying I feel personally called out, but I have not stopped thinking about it since. Here's the video, because that's the whole point:

The facts, up top

• Who: Louella, a Sunshine Coast singer-songwriter working in folk, soul and R&B
• What: her debut single 'Before I Go', out 10 July 2026
• The video: directed by Victor Ivanov, filmed in one day across six Tokyo locations, from cherry-blossom parks to city metros and neon
• See her live: an intimate backyard show on the Sunshine Coast, 1 August 2026

Organic to the bone

'Before I Go' is a melancholic, guitar-driven song about a romance that's lost its soul, and it talks itself toward hope by the end. What makes it land is how it was made. Louella brought in her former cello teacher, Louise King, to play live strings in an old wooden community hall on the Sunshine Coast, and there's a 100-year-old piano on the recording. That is more provenance than most of my furniture has.

"This song was such a special project to work on," she says. "I really wanted it to have real, organic instrumentation, to complement the honest and personal lyrics." On the Tokyo shoot: "I shot the music video in one day across six different locations in Tokyo, ranging from cherry blossom-filled parks to city metros and neon cityscapes." One day. Six locations. I need a lie down.

Where to see her next

The debut single comes with a debut show worth the drive north:

She's also through to the Sydney finals of the Listen Up Music Songwriting Prize, so this is a good time to be able to say you heard her first. Tickets to the backyard show are through her socials:

Debut singles are a coin toss, and most land with a polite nod. This one landed with real strings, a century-old piano, and a passport stamp, which tells you the person behind it is going to be worth watching. Hear it now, go see the backyard show, and if live music near you is your thing, there's always more on Ticketted. Then you get to be the person who says "I was into Louella before Tokyo." Insufferable, sure. Also correct.