Melody Pool

Melody Pool
Melody Pool at the Murwillumbah Citadel, 2026
Melody Pool at the Murwillumbah Citadel, 2026
Background information
Born
Melody Jane Pool

1991 or 1992 (age 34–35)
OriginKurri Kurri, New South Wales, Australia
GenresCountry, folk
InstrumentsVocal, acoustic guitar, guitar
LabelsLiberation/Universal, Bloodlines
Websitemelodypool.com.au
Melody Pool at the Dashville Skyline, 2015

Melody Jane Pool (born 1991 or 1992), is an Australian country-folk musician from Kurri Kurri, New South Wales. Her second studio album, Deep Dark Savage Heart (2016) reached the ARIA albums chart top 50. Pool has issued two other studio albums, The Hurting Scene (2013) and Our Eternal Garden (2025).

Biography

Melody Jane Pool, was born in 1991 or 1992 and raised in Kurri Kurri by her mother, Annie and father, Alby Pool. She first performed on stage with her father when she was 8 years old. Her first solo show was at age 9. During her teens Pool toured Australia as a member of her father's country music band. She made her debut recording on the bonus track, "Bridle Hanging on the Wall" for her father's fourth album, Back in the Swing (2004). Keith Glass of Country Music Capital News felt, "[she] does a delightful job on it and you can add her to a growing list of young country singers obviously entranced by old time country."

Pool independently released her debut extended play (EP), Heart to Heart Talk, in 2008. 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 was issued by March 2013. It reached No. 40 on the ARIA Digital Albums and No. 5 on ARIA Hitseekers Albums charts in that month. Initially released independently, Pool was then signed to Liberation Music and Mushroom Music Publishing, which reissued the album in July 2013.

In 2014 she covered Joni Mitchell's "River" for Katie Noonan's collaborative album Songs That Made Me. The album reached No. 7 on the ARIA Compilation Chart in October 2014. Also in that year, Pool undertook a co-headline tour with New Zealand-born artist Marlon Williams, playing 26 shows around Australia and New Zealand. After moving to Coburg, Victoria, Pool began writing her next album Deep Dark Savage Heart, which was released in April 2016. The album peaked at No. 49 on ARIA Albums chart in the following month. It was listed at No. 50 on Rolling Stone Australia's 50 Best Albums of 2016, which "plummeted the deepest and darkest of emotions... As blunt lyrically as she is poetic, [her] alt-country-leaning songs and heavenly voice remain a thing of deep, dark beauty."

Following its release and subsequent tour, Pool announced a pause in her music career to address her mental health. She described her anxiety and depression on ABC's Australian Story in a 2017 episode, "Unchained Melody". In 2020 Pool revealed she was recording a new album on a farm in regional NSW, and began playing new songs live in 2021. Six years after her last release, her next EP, Lost in Time, appeared in 2023 and was followed by her third studio album, Our Eternal Garden, in July 2025. The latter peaked at No. 4 on the ARIA Australian Country Albums chart.

Discography

Albums

List of albums, with selected details and selected chart positions
Title Album details Peak chart positions
AUS
The Hurting Scene
  • Released: March 2013
  • Format: CD, LP, digital
  • Label: Weston Boys Entertainment, Independent (859709575391)
 —
Deep Dark Savage Heart
  • Released: April 2016
  • Format: CD, digital
  • Label: Liberation Music/Universal (LMCD0287)
 49
Our Eternal Garden
  • Released: 31 July 2025
  • Format: CD, digital
  • Label: Melody Pool
 —

Notes

  1. ↑ The Hurting Scene did not reach the ARIA Albums chart top 100, but peaked at No. 40 on the ARIA Digital Albums and No. 5 on ARIA Hitseekers Albums charts.
  2. ↑ Our Eternal Garden did not reach the ARIA Albums chart top 100, but peaked at No. 4 on the ARIA Australian Country Albums chart.

Extended plays

List of EPs, with selected details
Title Details
Heart to Heart Talk
  • Released: 2008
  • Format: CD, digital
  • Label: Melody Pool
You’re All Around Me
  • Released: 2011
  • Format: CD, digital
  • Label: Melody Pool
Lost in Time
  • Released: 2023
  • Format: CD, digital
  • Label: Melody Pool

Awards and nominations

National Live Music Awards

The National Live Music Awards (NLMAs) commenced in 2016 to recognise contributions to the live music industry in Australia.

Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref.
2023 Melody Pool Best Folk Act Nominated

Telstra Road to Discovery

  • 2013 - Songwriter of the Year

References

  1. ↑ "Song Catalogue Search Results for 'The Hurting Scene'". APRA AMCOS (Australasian Performing Right Association, Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society). Retrieved 13 August 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Monger, Christopher James. "Melody Pool Biography, Songs, & Albums". AllMusic. Retrieved 13 August 2026.
  3. ↑ O'Neill, Stephanie (4 May 2016). "Getting Dark and Deep with Melody Pool". scenestr. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
  4. ↑ "Melody Pool to feature on Australian Story". Newcastle Live. 15 February 2017. Archived from the original on 18 March 2017. Retrieved 13 August 2026 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. 1 2 3 Milligan, Nick (6 December 2012). "Melody Pool: from Kurri to Nashville". Maitland Mercury. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
  6. ↑ "Melody Pool". Melomania. 20 August 2013. Archived from the original on 26 January 2014. Retrieved 13 August 2026 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. ↑ Minter, Deborah (2004). "Back in the Swing". Country Music Capital News. 29 (11). Archived from the original on 22 April 2017. Retrieved 14 August 2026 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. 1 2 Glass, Keith (January 2005). "Alby Pool - 'Seriously Country!'". Country Music Capital News. 30 (1). Archived from the original on 24 June 2005. Retrieved 14 August 2026 – via National Library of Australia.
  9. 1 2 Smith, Michael (8 July 2014). "Why Melody Pool and Marlon Williams Are Teaming Up". The Music. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
  10. ↑ Jun, Simon (10 June 2014). "Country Living with Melody Pool". scenestr. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
  11. 1 2 3 4 Wallace, Ian (11 March 2013). "Week Commencing ~ 11 March 2013 ~ Issue #1202" (PDF). The ARIA Report (1202). Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA): 10, 21.
  12. ↑ Wallace, Ian (27 October 2014). "ARIA Report Week Commencing ~ 27 October 2014 ~ Issue #1287" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). p. 15. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 October 2014. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
  13. ↑ Priest, Annika (3 May 2016). "Melody Pool's album Deep Dark Savage Heart bares her battles with depression". Herald Sun. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
  14. 1 2 Wallace, Ian (9 May 2016). "Week Commencing ~ 9 May 2016 ~ Issue #1367" (PDF). The ARIA Report (1367). Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA): 2, 5, 8, 10, 14, 16, 21.
  15. ↑ Weingarten, Christopher R.; Dolan, Jon; Freeman, Jon; et al. (14 December 2016). "50 Best Albums of 2016". Rolling Stone Australia. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
  16. ↑ Hawkins, Belinda (20 February 2017). "Singer-songwriter Melody Pool puts heartache on the page in depression battle". ABC News. Archived from the original on 20 February 2017. Retrieved 13 August 2026.
  17. ↑ Unchained Melody, Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), 20 February 2017, retrieved 20 March 2022
  18. ↑ "Melody Pool: When heartbreak masks something more serious". news.com.au. 21 February 2017. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
  19. ↑ "Melody Pool 2021 Australia Tour". scenestr. 20 April 2021. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
  20. ↑ Dwyer, Michael (8 April 2020). "Out of her seclusion, Melody Pool emerges with caged fury and bliss". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
  21. 1 2 "ARIA Top 20 Australian Country Albums Chart". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). 11 August 2025. Retrieved 14 August 2026.
  22. ↑ Hung, Steffen. "Discography Melody Pool". Australian Charts Portal. Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 August 2026.
  23. ↑ "Nominees Announced For The 2023 National Live Music Awards". The Music. 5 September 2023. Retrieved 11 September 2023.
  24. ↑ "Genesis Owusu And Amyl & The Sniffers Win Big At The 2023 National Live Music Awards". The Music. 11 October 2023. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
  25. ↑ "Gena Rose Bruce and Melody Pool win the Telstra Road to Discovery". Telstra.com. Retrieved 20 March 2022.