Lebanese Australian alternative pop artist GAZAL is embracing vulnerability, humour and unapologetic self-expression on her new EP, HOW DO WOMEN FLY?, a six-track project about reclaiming confidence after being made to feel small. The release marks another chapter in the Sydney-based singer, songwriter and musician’s evolving story, arriving after she was named to Rolling Stone Australia’s Fresh Sounds Class of 2026 and spotlighted by Live Nation as its latest Ones To Watch artist.
Across the EP, GAZAL examines the behaviours, emotional games and familiar excuses that can shape relationships, particularly when women are expected to make themselves smaller to accommodate men. Her approach is direct and often funny, but beneath the sharp observations is a deeper message about recognising unhealthy patterns, holding people accountable and learning to trust your own perspective.
The project continues a narrative that began with her 2023 debut EP, I Accidentally Burnt The House Down, before developing further on 2025’s Gods Into Frauds. Where those earlier releases introduced the beginnings of her emotional and artistic reckoning, HOW DO WOMEN FLY? explores what happens after the illusion breaks and a woman decides to move forward on her own terms.
GAZAL explains the progression in her own words: “My last project was me pulling men off the pedestal and HOW DO WOMEN FLY? is what happens once they’re down there and you realise you don’t have to stand around looking at them anymore.”
That shift informs the EP’s six songs, each approaching a different relationship dynamic or emotional experience. Opening track “Onion” turns an everyday kitchen scenario into a pointed take on mansplaining, using the absurdity of being instructed on how to cut an onion by someone who has never cooked as the starting point for its biting humour.
“Backpack” takes a more tender direction, celebrating the women who carry emotional weight for others while rarely receiving the same support in return. Transforming personal loss into a tribute to friendship, the song recognises the importance of the women who show up when life becomes difficult.
Elsewhere, “Eat Dirt” challenges the performance of the supposedly nice guy, while “This Man Is A Preacher” examines apologies that sound rehearsed rather than sincere. On “Daisychains,” GAZAL turns familiar romantic expectations on their head, allowing herself to experience desire without feeling obliged to give someone access to her heart.
The emotional centre of the project, however, is “Pick Up Truck.” Written in the aftermath of a painful departure, the song captures the experience of loving someone deeply and having to find a way to process their absence. Its vulnerability stands in contrast to the EP’s more cutting moments, showing that emotional honesty and defiance can exist side by side.
GAZAL wrote “Onion” the day after writing “Pick Up Truck”, with its opening expletive emerging as a reaction to the emotions she had just confronted. That sequence helps explain the project’s balance between softness and sharpness. Rather than choosing one response to heartbreak, she makes room for grief, frustration, humour and the determination to move on.
“I want women to hear this and feel like they’ve got a big sister in the car with them, telling them they’re not crazy, they’re just early,” she says. “But the whole point is that you don’t have to choose between being soft and being sharp.”
Written over several years across Sydney, Bali and Los Angeles, HOW DO WOMEN FLY? was shaped from hundreds of demos into the six songs GAZAL felt best represented this stage of her journey. Her experience writing for other artists has helped refine that instinct. She has worked with South Korean star TAEMIN, Filipino Australian singer grentperez and George Alice, alongside collaborations with Vera Blue.
One of the EP’s key tracks, “Eat Dirt”, was reportedly held for six months by K-pop group Stray Kids before GAZAL decided the song was too personal to give away. Keeping it for her own project reflects the creative ownership that runs through the release, both in its themes and in the way it was made.
The EP was created independently while GAZAL continued running The Artist Studio Sydney, an artist-development hub, full-time. She also directed the project’s visual world, working with producers Aidan Hogg, naebird and Ryan Harvey, alongside audio engineer Becki Whitton.
That independence forms part of GAZAL’s wider artistic identity. A self-taught musician who left university to pursue music, she brings alternative pop experimentation together with hip-hop attitude, emotionally candid songwriting and what her biography describes as unmistakable Lebanese sass. Her work has drawn comparisons to FKA twigs, Doechii, Florence + The Machine and Noga Erez, while her songwriting career has allowed her to move between pop, K-pop, R&B and indie.
Her growing profile has also brought opportunities on the live stage. After being selected to perform at SXSW 2025 and supporting Nilüfer Yanya on her sold-out Australian tour, GAZAL is continuing to build her presence as both a recording artist and performer.
With HOW DO WOMEN FLY? arriving in October 2026, followed by an Australian headline tour with fellow Arab Australian artist byjaye in November, GAZAL brings her latest chapter of self-discovery into focus. Funny, bruised and ultimately empowering, the EP makes a case for recognising the patterns that hold you back, embracing the full range of your emotions and refusing to shrink yourself for anyone else.
