With a voice that feels both powerful and intimate, Australian artist Jael Wena is carving out a space for herself through a sound rooted in R&B, soul and gospel. Her music carries the influence of a childhood surrounded by music, family and faith, while remaining distinctly her own.
Across the five tracks of her debut EP, Mama Says, Jael moves through the themes love, longing, grief and family, offering an introduction to an artist unafraid to sit with complicated emotions. From the magnetic pull of ‘Prisoner of Love’, the push-and-pull of ‘DUI’, and the vulnerability found on ‘Hallowed Ground’, the project ultimately arrives at its namesake, a reminder that the people who know us best have already seen the lessons we’re still learning.
With her debut EP out in the world, and a performance at All Points East as her under her belt, Jael is beginning to build a life and career on the other side of the world. As she navigates new audiences, new surroundings and the next stage of her artistry, Mama Says marks a significant point in Jael’s journey of artistry. GUAP caught up with Jael to talk about crossing continents, finding her sound, the stories behind her debut, and why, sometimes, Mama really does know best
Mama Says, your debut EP has been out for about a month now. Has anything about people’s reaction surprised you?
The fact that so many people have already told me that they connect with it. That was the end goal, to make people feel like the music on the EP is their own as well. I always try not to pay too much attention to the streams because I feel like that can interfere with the reason why I put music out. As long as I get one connection, someone that really feels the song, that makes me so happy, and the rest will come along with it, but I’ve been so grateful with the response the EP has had so far
The EP is called Mama Says, and the closing track carries the same name. Why did that song become the title and, in a way, the centre of the whole project?
Mothers are a huge part of our lives. They raise us, and explain the things we’ll go through when we grow up. I feel like a lot of those songs have experiences that my Mum would have spoken to me about. The title ended up having a connection to all the songs, especially with the lead single being ‘Mama Says’.
Did you know you were making an EP when you first started writing these songs ?
I wasn’t thinking about making an EP, it looked more like me going into the studio, and making a lot of music rather than anything being very set in stone. The songs that would be great to release as a first project presented themselves, but I never went into those sessions as if they were solely for making an EP.
You worked with Eg White across the EP, who has such an incredible songwriting history. What was it like being in those sessions, and what did you take away from working with someone so experienced?
Eg is crazy in the best way. He’s got a mind that I’ve never worked with before and all these ideas just flow out of him. He was like a mad scientist in the studio and had some fantastic ideas. His creative mind is very unique, and I’m so glad that I got to work with him. I also worked with Kurisu and Andrew Lowden. Kurisu worked on ‘Mama Says’ with me, and he was amazing. I feel like we really understood each other, and he understood the type of melodies that I love. All of the people that worked on this EP with me were amazing to work with.
You were raised in Melbourne and you’re now based in London, so you’ve quite literally crossed continents while developing as an artist. What has that transition been like for you personally and creatively? What differences have you noticed between the Australian and UK music scenes?
Things moved so quickly with the move. I was coming over to London for a few trips every now and then, and the trips would get longer and longer. Now, I have a place in London and I’m living here, but I still don’t like to call it fully living here, I like to call it being here and there, because I’m still so connected to home and I still go when I can.
It can be very hard because I’m so close to my family, they’re my top supporters and are involved in everything I do. My Mum and two sisters were over a couple weeks ago and it was nice for them to get a little insight into what I do in my life.
You get used to it, and this is what I’ve always wanted to do, so it was bound to happen sooner or later. I’m glad that I know that I have such a supporting and caring family back home that are rooting for me all the way.
There is so much talent in Australia, and I know so many artists who deserve so much more recognition. I’ve always said Australia, compared to other countries, isn’t as music driven - Australia loves sport, which we all know. That’s why I also wanted to go out of Australia, as much as I love it. I wanted to create something new and build a global name for myself that wasn’t only attached to Australia. I feel like it’s gone that way for some artists, they build their career in Australia and it becomes hard to remove yourself from being associated with Australia alone. I wanted to make sure I reached as many artists as possible, so I thought that the UK would be the perfect place for that. There’s a lot going on here in the UK, and there are such great artists coming out of here, and it gives me so much confidence that I made the right decision
You grew up in church, and you can hear that history in your voice. How do those sounds and experiences continue to show up in your music today?
I grew up with both my parents being worship leaders, and to this day, they still are. They’ve always inspired me with the way that they carry music. My Dad is also a producer, so I grew up in a very musical family. Whenever I remember my mother singing on stage, I always remember the fact that she never held back with anything.
What I loved so much about church is that there were never any set in stone rules in your musical delivery. You let your voice go wherever it wants to go. I take that into the studio, and I just flow first. I don’t like having a really rigid structure when I create music. Sometimes I do, but a lot of the times I like to flow with how I feel, and let everything out as I listen to my heart. I take that with me all the time, and always try to tap into that realm.
My church family is so supportive and I know they’re always there to help me through anything I’m going through, especially over here. It’s a big step to be alone in London at this age, so knowing they’re there for anything is amazing.
You just performed at All Points East - speak to me about that and how you found performing for a UK crowd vs an Aus one. What is it like to perform these intimate tracks in such an environment?
I loved All Points East so much. It was my first festival, so before that I wasn’t sure on what to expect, and I wasn’t even sure if anyone would even watch my set. I had a really amazing crowd and they had so much energy. It’s been a while since I’ve gotten that energy from a crowd. When the crowd’s energy is good, you get more energy and want to perform better. I felt so free onstage as well, and it was definitely a milestone for me. I’ve had crowds where it’s a lot more mellow, which is great, but personally, I thrive off people that really get into it because it makes me want to do even better.
From ‘Prisoner of Love’ to ‘Mama Says’, the EP takes us through grief, family, longing and love. For a debut project, you could have introduced us to any side of yourself, what made these the themes you wanted to touch on first?
I’m not the type of person to open up a lot and express a lot of my emotions to someone, especially in person, but I’ve noticed that the only place where I can really do that freely has always been the studio. I wanted people to see that side of me, because a lot of the time I’m a very happy, excited, silly person but I do have an emotional side too.
I had some friends and family text me after listening, saying they didn’t know I had been through some of the things that were on the EP. There’s a lot of people out there that don’t express their emotions to people on a really high level. Maybe by listening to these songs, they can connect with their emotions and feel represented.
Festivals have their big songs, and usually when we think of festivals we think of everyone dancing, and having a good time. I performed some unreleased music with a different tempo that people were able to dance to, but I really loved performing some of the more intimate tracks from the EP.
I love that the crowd saw that side of me, and heard the things I sing about. It’s nice, after the big songs, for everyone to experience the slower paced moments where people can come in and enjoy that type of atmosphere a ballad makes.
On ‘Don’t Make Me Like You Again’, you write, ‘Give me another tale to tell, and not some meaningless farewell,’. What “tale” or story do you want people to carry away from this EP?
I would love people to come away from it and almost when they hear it think ‘That’s my song’. Just like at a wedding when the bride and the groom have a song, I want them to have that feeling, that they’ve associated so much emotion and feeling with a song that it now feels like it belongs to them.
Different people take different things from the same song. ‘Hallowed Ground’, for example, may make you think it’s about a romantic relationship, but it’s actually a song about my cousin. Everyone can take what they want from it, into any relationship that they have going on.
‘Prisoner Of Love’ was written in 2023, but released this year as your first single. What’s your take on longevity and waiting for the right time for things to come into the world.
‘Prisoner of Love’ It was one of my first proper studio sessions, apart from the times prior where I had worked with my Dad. It was a very important song, because I had done minimal sessions in the studio, and I wasn’t used to that environment where you’re opening up a lot. Some sessions feel like therapy sessions because you’re talking about your life and then turning those experiences into a song.
I wrote that song in 2023 and kept it, and in 2025 I still loved it. I hadn’t released any music but I started teasing it on social media and it got a really good response. I wish I had released it earlier than I did, at the time that people were reacting to it and feeling fit, but it still has its place on the EP. That was my first single release in February this year, and I’m very glad I released it, even if it came out this year.
The production on this EP never feels like it’s trying to overpower your voice or the story. Was that intentional? Is that a vision you have for your artistry ?
I’ve always loved a strong vocal. Sometimes a voice speaks for itself, and you don’t need too much production, stacked vocals, or harmonies behind it. I definitely have songs that I’ve made with more of those elements, but I love the intimate feeling of just having a voice and hearing its raw emotion. I personally think it connects to people more and that they can really hear and understand what I’m trying to portray in whatever I’m singing..
With absolutely no pun intended, what’s a piece of advice your Mum has given you that you live by?
She’s like my therapist, she gives me advice every single day. She wrote me a bunch of scriptures that she feels like apply to my life right now, which I keep in my room. She told me to read them every morning before my day and every night before I go to bed. They’re connected to anxiousness or worries that I’m doing good enough, all the affirmations I need in this life I’m living.
Debut EP, All Points East Done, and a new single, a bonus track, dropping tomorrow. What’s next for you ?
I feel like we’re going into a new chapter. I always say the two main genres of the music I make consists of emotional ballad, and soul. Growing up in the church, the ballad side of my artistry has been put into my music quite a bit, but I think that soulful side of me is going to show up a lot in the next phase of my music.
I’m excited to see how people react and connect to that. But on top of that I love live performing, so whenever I hear I have a live performance coming up I get so excited, because that’s my favourite part of everything. Just getting into the studio more, and getting some great songs for the future is what’s next.