Wonder-ful song in the key of strife

With her performance of a classic Stevie Wonder song, Katie Noonan is the latest star to grace our Isolation Room video series.

Singer-songwriter Katie Noonan with her dog Sassy at home in Queensland’s Sunshine Coast hinterland near Eumundi. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen

In a time of great stress and uncertainty, when things have been looking dire for many recording and performing artists, Katie ­Noonan finds herself returning to a peerless artist who has comforted and enchanted her for decades.

“I turned to the church of Stevie Wonder for some solace,” says the award-winning singer-songwriter. “He has been such a wonderful teacher for me: he brings me solace, and I’m hoping he will do the same for other people.”

For The Australian’s Isolation Room video series, Noonan sat at her piano to record a stirring cover of Love’s in Need of Love Today, the opening track from Wonder’s acclaimed 1976 album Songs in the Key of Life.

As well as conveying a wholesome sentiment, some of Wonder’s words are uncannily apt for the era of social distancing. “We all must take precautionary measures / If love and peace you treasure,” Noonan sings in the second verse. “Then you’ll hear me when I say / You know that love’s in need of love today.”

Last month, Noonan was three shows into a national tour when restrictions on social gatherings took immediate effect, forcing the remaining dates to be postponed. “It’s been an extraordinarily stressful time for artists ­because of all the unknowns,” she says. “Some people still don’t even know if they’re eligible for the ­fantastic initiatives that the government has rolled out, like JobKeeper, which doesn’t apply to a huge proportion of the arts community. Uncertainty is incredibly exhausting, and for the arts sector it’s particularly bleak.”

While staying at home near ­Eumundi on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast with her husband and two teenage children — all of whom write and perform music — Noonan has found succour in a couple of reliable inspirations.

“Self-isolation is an act of love for yourself, your family, your children, your elders and your community,” she says. “Music and nature have been the two things that I’ve really been turning to. ”

Noonan joins the likes of Sarah Blasko, Colin Hay and singing sisters Vika and Linda Bull in recording for Isolation Room. Later this week, John Butler and his wife Danielle Caruana will perform a duet recorded in their West Australian backyard.