RAGEGIST

Australia's pop princess Jess Mauboy unveils her demons in new single Never Be The Same

Letting it all out ... Jessica Mauboy sings about her battle to stay true to herself on new single <i>Never Be The Same</i>. Picture: Adam Taylor Source: News Limited

IT is the song Jessica Mauboy wanted the world to hear.

After a succession of upbeat pop songs restored her command of the charts, Mauboy reveals the angry and frustrated young woman who has wrestled with the compromises demanded by success on Never Be The Same.
It was the last song written for her Beautiful album as the much-loved entertainer returned to Australia from a long campaign in support of The Sapphires and writing songs for her third record.
Frustrated by the separation from her family and boyfriend Themeli Magripilis and the constant battle to call all the shots in her career, Mauboy let it all out in Never Be The Same.
The video, due later this week, is also expected to shock her fans with a naked Mauboy wracked with sobs in the shower as she sings the emotionally powerful ballad.
Fans are already rallying around the song, with Never Be The Same making its way towards the top 10 on iTunes even though its has been available on the album since October.
"This is me, the most vulnerable I have ever been singing," she said.
"I was scared of becoming someone I wasn't. Had I been there for my family, have I been there for my boyfriend, am I doing enough? I was angry at myself.
"There has to be balance in my life and I can't always be the happy pop singer; I have my doubts and criticise myself constantly."

Jessica Mauboy behind the scenes

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Never be The Same is racing up the digital charts as fans connect with the emotional power ballad.
She tapped a deeply personal family situation to summons her tears for the video which also features Miah Madden, the young Julie in The Sapphires, as young Jess.
Mauboy said she would think of her mother's search for her indigenous roots and was immediately crying.
She also couldn't help thinking about how they would react to seeing her so vulnerable in the video.
"I think the most important thing in your life is knowing who you are and it was powerful to think of my mum and her not knowing where she had come from," she said.
"So when I thought of my mum and what she has been through, the tears came on cue."
Mauboy wrote the track with local hitmakers DNA and said she shocked them when she rocked up angry for the session.
"Those boys know me so well but I walked in there with so much anger and confidence about what I wanted to say, knowing how I wanted this song to be, that they paused for a moment," she said.
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