Source : PERTHNOW NEWS
Singer-songwriter and former Australian Idol contestant Harriet Hawthorne has her sights set on being Perth’s next pop star, and isn’t letting anyone who doubts, overlooks or judges her get in the way.
In fact, her new single is about a boy who hurt her feelings at her 18th birthday party, so she did what she does best and wrote a tongue-in-cheek song about her experience as a young artist trying to be taken seriously.
Titled Bitch With A Guitar, it marks the first song off her upcoming EP, set for release in November.
“I wrote Bitch With A Guitar following the events of my 18th birthday party, where someone who had hurt me told me, ‘Don’t write a song about this’,” the now 20-year-old says.
“So naturally, that’s exactly what I did.”
The track was released on July 31 and has already been played multiple times on national radio, a moment Hawthorne describes as “cool, crazy and insane”.
Those who watched the 2026 season of Idol will remember a curly-haired Hawthorne being a standout after she auditioned with a stripped-back acoustic cover of Scar by Missy Higgins.
Her performance earned three yes votes from judges Kyle Sandilands, Marcia Hines and Amy Shark, with Sandilands calling it effortless. She made it all the way to the top 21 before being eliminated.
Post-Idol, the independent southern suburbs artist is thriving.
“I left the show at a good time for myself, because I didn’t want to be pushed in a direction that I didn’t want to go,” she says.
“I’m pretty lucky to have come out of it with such a positive mindset and experience, and I know that not everyone can say that.”
Hawthorne is grateful for Idol despite not taking home the prize of $100,000 and a recording deal.
“People know that this (music) is actually what I want to do, and I’m not just another bitch with a guitar,” she says.
Her second single, which follows 2025 debut Flowers Laced With Vitriol, arrives with a 90s and 2000s rom-com-themed music video, filmed on a set inspired by the real-life bedroom where she does most of her songwriting.
Hawthorne hasn’t spoken to the guy who hurt her 18-year-old self, but assumes he has heard the defiant track.
“But I don’t care, because they’re not in my life anymore, and it’s a really good song,” she says.
“I don’t want to sacrifice the good songs that I write out of fear that the person it’s about will be upset about it.”
The aspiring pop star is funding her music dream by working three jobs: singing teacher, golf course staffer and bartender at Freo.Social.
As challenging as it is to break through in Australia, let alone Perth, Hawthorne is determined to make herself known in a world dominated by indie rock.
“Pop artists, for sure not just WA but Australia in general, are a little overlooked,” she says.
“It’s a very indie rock kind of scene that’s very prioritised and pushed, and that’s great, I love that music. But I, as a pop artist, do see there’s a little gap.”
The daughter of a classical music family, Hawthorne initially wanted to be a surgeon, and was pushed towards piano, violin and harp before her mum overheard her singing in the backyard and switched her to singing lessons.
She only realised her true calling two years ago, on a five-month European holiday without her beloved guitar.
“I felt so deprived, like all my emotions were bottled up, and I just needed to get them out in a song,” she says.
“I realised, ‘Oh my gosh, this is what I have to do with the rest of my life’. You’re not gonna catch me being a surgeon any day.”
