After Facebook live fail, meme magnet Shannon Noll releases new single Who I Am

REMEMBER Shannon Noll? The Australian Idol alumni has signed a new major label record deal as he enjoys career resurgence ... because of memes.

Shannon Noll Who I Am single cover

SHANNON Noll has signed a new major label record deal as he enjoys a meme-led career resurgence.

Warner Music will release Noll’s new single Who I Am on September 30.

The country-tinged pop song comes complete with a non-more-Aussie single cover where a double-denim clad Noll is posing on a ute with a ‘Nollsie’ licence plate, complete with font that looks like a bourbon bottle.

The song will launch the day before Noll performs at the Deni Ute Muster — he’ll also shoot a video for the single at the event.

A lyric video has been released on Noll’s heavily-trafficked Facebook page — today is also his 41st birthday.

Former Australian Idol runner-up Shannon Noll has had a career resurgence thanks to internet memes. Picture: Supplied

However the singer struggled with a Facebook Live announcement of the song, failing to stop the camera after ending his chat — his worried look into the camera already becoming more accidental meme-bait.

The lyrics include the line “Got a five star tattoo, brand new black ute I was built to drive... ”

They also seem to reference his Australian Idol history — “caught me in second place, put me back in the race, silver as good as gold...every underdog has their day.”

Who I Am previews a new album, his fifth, due next year.

Warner signed Noll earlier this year after a brief period where he signed to Universal Music after his post-Australian Idol deal with Sony Music ended.

“Who I Am is me saying this is me like it or not, I think in this business people try to make you something you’re not,” Noll said in a statement.

“It’s a joyful song that is all about being yourself and doing the things that make you happy. I feel refreshed and ready to go! The last three songs I’ve co-written recently are my favourite songs on the album! The new songs are different in the sense they are very current sounding and the message is a celebration of who I am and where I come from, and also the passion I have for the country I live in.”

While Noll has not released an album in five years his profile has never been stronger in Australia — particularly among younger fans.

Shannon Noll is popular online. Picture: Facebook

A string of comedic memes on Facebook, most based around the theory he was ‘robbed’ when Guy Sebastian won Australian Idol in 2003, have thrived online.

However he hasn’t just been meme-bait — Noll has turned the popularity into a string of live shows (he’s joined the John Farnham/Daryl Braithwaite/James Reyne Red Hot Summer tour for 2017) and was a Eurovision judge for SBS this year.

“They’re not just saying ‘interested in coming’ on Facebook, they’re making the effort to get out from the computer and come along to the shows,” Noll says of his touring. “It seems to be reigniting the fanbase that might have been fans when they were young kids, then they got older and cooler but now it’s cool to be into me and they know all the songs they grew up with, not just What About Me.”

The cover art of Nollsie’s new single. Picture: Supplied

No stranger to making fun of himself, Noll admits he first thought he was the butt of a cruel online joke. Now he’s become the latest underdog for Australia to fall in love with again.

“It was a concern at the start, and I spoke to some people who said ‘Even if 50% are taking the piss then 50% of something is better than 50% of nothing’. Some of the stuff they’ve done is bloody brilliant and very clever and very funny. They’re not being offensive towards me, they’re genuinely funny. I’m the first person to who can have a laugh at himself. You can’t laugh at anyone else if you can’t laugh at yourself.

“I’ve done my time where what people were saying about me on social media wasn’t positive,” Noll continues. “Where people used to enjoy taking the piss out of me or having a go at me from behind the computer screen now it feels like it’s cool to be in my corner. I put it down to that thing where you go to a game of footy and you boo a guy for so long you end up cheering for him. I’m running with it.”

A petition circulated this year to get Noll onto the Groovin’ the Moo festival and his Facebook page is swamped by comments on everything he posts — mainly from people who were kids when he topped the charts with What About Me, Lift, Drive, Learn to Fly and Shine.

Warner signed Noll earlier this year after courting him for years, he’s been writing with acts including Busby Marou.

“I’m finally with a label that are going to put their best foot forward and be involved,” Noll says of his Warner deal. “They’ve opened my eyes with some of the things they suggested I should write about. They wanted me to write about growing up in the country, not necessarily country songs. Like Mellencamp, he wrote great rock songs about where he came from and who he was. They want to hear about my experiences and my life. We’ve come up with some really good themes for songs, I just want to get it finished and get something out there and hopefully these online fans will like it.”

Noll is hoping his petition-loving fans will also help him get played on commercial radio.

“These petitions have united a lot of people from my fanbase, the more times they don’t get their way the more things they petition to get me on. It just fires them up more to get a victory along the way. Wait until I get a song out and see how they can help me.”

Shannon Noll on embracing the meme

Originally published as After Facebook live fail, meme magnet Shannon Noll releases new single Who I Am