Yet after seven years between solo albums, 'Through The Haze' finds Beccy Cole at perhaps her most honest, turning heartbreak, therapy and hard-won self-awareness into songs that are as funny as they are fearless.
It's a fitting chapter for an artist preparing to return to the Gold Coast's Groundwater Country Music Festival this October, where thousands of fans will descend on Broadbeach for three days of free live music, beachside stages and country music under the Queensland sun.
For Cole, Groundwater's biggest strength is also what makes it unlike any other festival on the calendar.
"I keep coming back because it's such an exciting festival," she says. "Because it's free and open to the community, a lot of people discover country music who probably wouldn't normally seek it out. They don't have to pack up the camping gear and head into the outback. They can come to the beach, give it a go, and suddenly they're discovering this amazing genre."
The contrast has always appealed to her.
"It's that great juxtaposition, country by the sea. Country music is usually associated with rodeos and the outback, so having it beside the ocean just feels special."
It's also arriving at a time when country music is enjoying a cultural resurgence unlike anything Cole has witnessed in her 30-plus years in the industry.
"I haven't seen the genre this popular before," she says. "What's exciting is seeing all these incredible new artists coming through. Country drifted towards pop for a while, but it's finding its way back. You look at artists like Lainey Wilson and Ella Langley, it's undeniably country music again, and I love that."
That balance between established names and emerging talent is exactly what festivals like Groundwater do best. For Cole, though, the biggest changes haven't happened on festival stages. They've happened quietly over the past seven years.
Following a major relationship breakdown, the songwriter found herself unable to create.
"I had to hit rock bottom before I could get creative again," she admits. "It took me a little while to know exactly what I wanted to say."
The result became 'Through The Haze', an album she describes as deeply personal without ever feeling weighed down by sadness. Instead, there's humour woven throughout, something that's always been central to who she is.
"If you're looking at 'Friends', I'm Chandler Bing," she laughs. "Humour has always been my coping mechanism. You have to laugh, especially at yourself. Otherwise you get bogged down in the trauma."
That honesty extends beyond the jokes. Cole speaks candidly about therapy and the way it reshaped not only her songwriting, but her understanding of herself.
"Some of these songs were written from the wound, and some from the scar," she says. "Now they're all coming from the scar. They're coming from a healed place."
The distinction matters. Vulnerability, she believes, becomes more powerful when it's paired with perspective.
"As you get older, you care less about being vulnerable. Without vulnerability, art doesn't have as much substance. If people can see themselves in these songs, maybe it helps them with their own healing." Therapy also shifted her understanding of happiness itself.
"I think everyone wants to be happy, but that's a lot of pressure," she says. "Now I aim for moments of joy. If I collect enough moments of joy throughout the day, by the end of it I realise I've had a happy day."
More than three decades into her career, Cole says the thrill of performing hasn't faded. The logistics, the travel and the personal sacrifices can be gruelling, but the moment she steps on to a stage, it all becomes worthwhile. It's "one of the most euphoric feelings" she knows, she says, adding that she counts herself lucky to still be doing what she loves.
That's exactly what fans can expect when she returns to Groundwater this October: a high-energy set backed by her all-female band, plenty of laughs and, perhaps, a few moments of reflection too.
"I just hope people leave entertained," she says. "Whether that's because they've laughed, they've heard a story they connected with, or they simply walk away thinking, 'I didn't know I liked country music, but I really enjoyed that'. That's one of the biggest compliments I can get."
Beccy Cole plays as part of Groundwater Country Music Festival at Broadbeach from 16-18 October. Her album 'Through The Haze' is out now.
