IT'S fitting that Catherine Britt opens The Pleasures debut album, The Beginning Of The End, with the lyric, "who's gonna save me, just asking for a friend?"
The album was written over a tumultuous period in the family life of the Newcastle country star and mother of two.
"I was in a real state of needing to write an album," Britt told the Newcastle Herald.
"I'd just gone through a separation with my husband [James Beverley] and was about a year into that and had partnered up with somebody new.
"There's all the dramas that come with that second relationship after a marriage when there's kids involved and ex-partners involved, and it gets nice and messy like a country song.
"So I had perfect fodder."
In Melbourne Americana singer-songwriter Lachlan Bryan, Britt also had the ideal bandmate and co-writer.
The pair first met and became friends in Texas nine years ago and during the COVID lockdown Britt sent Bryan a text suggesting a collaboration.
The duo promptly brought in Damian Cafarella (bass) from Bryan's main band Lachlan Bryan & The Wildes and Britt's partner Brad Bergen (drums) to complete the line-up.
"It helped me get through that really difficult period in my life, and I think having a friend like Lachlan at the time was what I needed," Britt said.
"I definitely used the writing process for this album as a crutch, for sure, during my break-up."
Break-up albums are nothing new to the country music scene. For decades country music has seemingly sustained itself on the tears of heartbreak.
However, The Beginning Of The End isn't a one-way street. Bryan's contribution tells the other side of the divorce, to seemingly present a musical play.
"The usual divorce or break-up album would be a lot of venting," Bryan said.
"This album answers back as well. It's like the two sides of the story fighting against each other, rather than someone saying 'this was my break-up' and firing off a whole lot of criticisms or hurt at the other person.
"In this record it's met with resistance a bit. It was more when I was listening back to it [that I realised that ] I'm role-playing the ex."
Throughout Britt's celebrated career that's included five Golden Guitars, multiple ARIA nominations and the record for being the youngest Australian to perform at Nashville's famous Grand Old Opry, she's predominantly explored pop and traditional country sounds.
The Pleasures has given Britt the opportunity to delve into darker blues and rock, particularly on the rockabilly-stomper Paranoid and rollicking album highlight, Howlin' For My Darlin'.
While both Bryan and Britt plan to continue with their successful solo careers, The Pleasures is their No.1 priority for the next six to 12 months and isn't expected to be a one-off.
"If you're gonna start something, don't half-arse it," Britt said. "A band is a band.
"We've formed a band, so it's a thing now. For me, I'm still very much doing Catherine Britt and Lachlan is still very much doing Lachlan Bryan, and I think they can all run next to each other.
"If this project takes off and does things we'll follow that for a while and see where it goes."
The Pleasures debut album The Beginning Of The End is released on Friday.
