"Say Nothing" is a song by Australian

electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...

ian and producer

Flume A flume is a human-made channel for water, in the form of an open declined gravity chute whose walls are raised above the surrounding terrain, in contrast to a trench or ditch. Flumes are not to be confused with aqueducts, which are built to t ...

featuring Australian singer

May-a Maya Cumming (born 2001), known professionally as May-a (stylised in all caps), is an Australian singer-songwriter from Sydney. On 2 February 2022, Cumming was featured on the single " Say Nothing", a collaboration with Australian electronic ...

, released through

Future Classic Future Classic is an Australian independent record label, artist management team, touring agency, and music publisher. Background Future Classic was founded in 2004 by Nathan McLay. McLay was appointed to the board of Music Australia, which ...

on 2 February 2022 as the

lead single A lead single (or first single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. A similar term, "debut ...

from his third studio album ''

Palaces A palace is a large residence, often serving as a royal residence or the home for a head of state or another high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome whi ...

'' (2022). The song was voted into first place on the Triple J Hottest 100 of 2022. At the

2022 ARIA Music Awards The 2022 ARIA Music Awards were the 36th Annual Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (generally known as ARIA Music Awards or simply The ARIAs) and consist of a series of awards, including the 2022 ARIA Artisan Awards, ARIA Fi ...

, the song was nominated for Best Pop Release, Best Video and Song of the Year. At the

2022 J Awards The 2022 J Awards are the 18th annual J Awards, established by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's youth-focused radio station Triple J Triple J is an Australian government-funded national radio station founded in 1975 as a division ...

, the song's video was nominated for Australian Video of the Year. At the

APRA Music Awards of 2023 The APRA Music Awards of 2023 were the 41st annual series, known as the APRA Awards. The awards are given in a series of categories in three divisions and in separate ceremonies throughout the year: the APRA Music Awards, Art Music Awards and ...

, the song won Song of the Year and was also nominated for Most Performed Dance/ Electronic Work of the Year. At the

AIR Awards of 2023 The 2023 AIR Awards is the seventeenth annual Australian Independent Record Labels Association Music Awards ceremony (generally known as the AIR Awards), which took place on 3 August 2023 in Adelaide. The 2023 AIR Awards introduced two new categ ...

, the song was nominated for Best Independent Dance, Electronica or Club Single.

Background

In early January 2022, Flume began teasing the release of new music. He shared a short clip titled "2022" on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

on 2 January, which featured a compilation of several forthcoming songs. On 28 January 2022, he announced on social media that he would release a collaboration with Australian

indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with a DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and s ...

singer

on 2 February 2022, alongside a snippet from an accompanying

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

. Following the release, "Say Nothing" was confirmed as the

from his upcoming third studio album ''

'' (2022). According to Flume, the song was written "midway through 2020" and recorded in "early 2021". He explained that he was "really excited about the initial idea but it was only once I got back to Australia in early 2021 and linked up in the studio with May-a that the song really came to life". In an interview with

Triple J Triple J is an Australian government-funded national radio station founded in 1975 as a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). It aims to appeal to young listeners of alternative music, and plays far more Australian conten ...

, he went on to praise her "beautiful voice". May-a described working with the producer as "a really incredible experience", adding that "it's unbelievable to be in a position to create music with someone I look up to and can learn so much from". She further expressed admiration for his "creative process" and shared her excitement for the release of the song. After the Triple J Hottest 100 win, many expressed surprise and disappointment on social media.

Music video

The

, directed by Michael Hili, was released on 3 February 2022. Visuals were described as "surreal" with the artists appearing in motorbike suits next to exotic birds and silicon burger buns, amongst other things. It also features shots of Flume "sporting bleach-blonde hair" and May-a being buried in black sand.

Commercial performance

In Australia, "Say Nothing" debuted at number 16 on the

ARIA Singles Chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...

on the chart dated 14 February 2022.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 2022 singles 2022 songs Flume (musician) songs Future Classic singles May-a songs APRA Award winners Song recordings produced by Flume (musician) Songs written by Flume (musician) Songs written by Sarah Aarons