The path to music is not always linear

She might have taken the long way to get there, but  Lucienne has finally found her place - as one of Sydney's most exciting new soul singer-songwriters. The release of her latest track Rebirth last week provided an opportunity to look back and see how far she's come.

As a teen, her teachers told her she would never amount to anything. She dropped out of school and ended up battling addiction, an eating disorder, and abusive relationships.

‘In one particular relationship, I was forbidden from sharing my voice as it would “attract attention from other men."' Lucienne says.

'I stopped singing, but I never stopped writing.'

Life continued. She spent three months walking across Spain and became a chef, before falling in love and moving to a remote Tasmanian island where she and her partner made cheese.

‘This,’ she say, ‘is when I started to heal.’

'I hadn't dared to share my music with anyone for a long time. I finally started to feel safe enough to open up what felt like a huge can of worms. It took a lot of time and encouragement to get out, but it brought me back to life and became a beautiful way of processing trauma.'

After a few more detours - driving tractors on a fruit farm and almost starting her own cheese factory - she finally started to perform shows and record.

Since then, she has written eighteen new songs, performed sixteen shows, won an award for ‘Best Inner West Artist’ of the year, and supported Thelma Plum and Crowded House in front of thousands of people, which she describes as ‘the highlight of a lifetime.’

‘It was actually the second solo set I have ever played,’ she says. ‘The most special part was that I had written these songs at some of the worst moments of my life, and performing them that day ended up being one of the best.’

With the recent release of Rebirth and an EP on the horizon, it seems she's finally found her path.

‘There were times I forgot how to use my voice, but I never lost it,' she says.

And her advice to others?

‘Your stories are your power and your life is your art,’ she says. 'Don't let anyone make you feel guilty for living it.'