Karen Elson

Earlier this month, Elson released her third full-length album, Green, off the back of the critically acclaimed Ghost Who Walks and Double Roses. Elson co-wrote and produced the record with Nashville music heavyweights Daniel Tashian and Ian Fitchuk, best-known for their work with Kacey Musgraves on Golden Hour and Star-crossed.

The combination signals a new direction and era for Elson and has resulted in a stunning piece of work, both in song-writing and sound. With this material, Elson found herself attuned to the same spirits that encouraged her to fall in love with music in the first place, resulting in some of her brightest material yet. “I needed some sunlight,” Karen admits. “My songs usually have a darker undercurrent. I wanted a silver lining with an effervescent quality that was a contradiction to the heavy period we were in. The album was written to feel like medicine in the form of a bottle of sunshine.”

Elson rose to fame as a model in her teens, having walked runways for Alexander McQueen, Chanel, Valentino and Gucci, and been the face of countless campaigns and grazed magazine covers around the globe. She released a book, The Red Flame, with Rizzoli Publishing in 2020, a moving coming-of-age story chronicling her professional and personal metamorphosis. Following her decades-long success in the fashion industry, Elson has been a leading advocate for model rights in the workplace, campaigning for historic reform legislation that will protect models and other industry creatives. Following her appearance at Semi Permanent Sydney, Elson will journey to New York to perform a residency at the Café Carlyle.