Karley Scott Collins Takes Flight: Inside Her Debut Album

Karley Scott Collins is officially airborne. Her debut album Flight Risk has dropped and she’s gearing up to land in Australia this week. Ahead of the Aussie appearances we sat down with Collins as she dove into what Flight Risk means to her and how those meanings evolved across 16 track album she co-wrote.

“Flight risk was kind of, I guess I kind of like it was a premonition,” she says, recounting how the title track was born during the 2020 lockdown. Over time, what started as a reflection of her reluctance in relationships shifted into something more assertive. “If I leave something, it’s not because I’m afraid, it’s out of independence or out of knowing what I want.” That line, she explains, became the connective tissue across the record.

Of all the songs, Runner went through the biggest transformation. “Runner was basically just a guitar and vocal demo. We had a lot more freedom with that one, having such a blank canvas to work with.” And though every song made the cut, Collins admits she had a larger list she’d love to revisit someday. “I had so many songs that I wanted to put on the record… 16 songs is already too much. I can’t have a 25 song debut album.” she laughed.

Already, certain tracks are already standing out live. “Everybody loves Cowboy Shit. That tends to be a favourite live. In fact, that song almost didn’t make the album. I didn’t send it to my team for like, over a year, because I was like, I’m not putting out a song with a “S” word in it.” But the chemistry in the studio won her over “We had so much fun recording it, and I liked it so much that I was like, dang it, all right, let’s do it.” 

Quit You is another standout and that has resonated especially deeply with her fans. In meet and greets “I hear about that [song] the most from people. That song is probably one of the more personal songs on the record for me.”

On her Australian setlist, she’s itching to play Denim, a crowd energizer and Girlfriend, where she handles bass duties live. “I play bass on that one when I play it live,” she smiled. 

Perhaps most revealing is how deeply she anchors her songs in lived experience. “The writing is the most important part of my whole career to me. When I talk to someone and they've lived through it, I can actually relate to them, you know?” Most of the songs draw from her life or close connections, though some take creative liberties. “I read constantly… there’s a lot of little lines or titles that’ll inspire me.”

When asked about a lyric that still hits her, she named Runner in full “Every time I sing that song, I feel like I'm right back there, in the emotions.” That vulnerability is central to Flight Risk, a record that doesn’t shy from the hard parts but rather finds strength in them. As Karley Scott Collins is about to touch down in Australia, expect a show stopper set at Ridin’ Hearts this weekend.