Chloe Marks & the Mayhem—

Ayodele, Chloe Marks and the Mayhem’s new single was more than a decade in the making, but it’s been worth the wait. “Ayodele was written back in 2015, almost 11 years ago now. It was the first country song I ever wrote, and it came from a really personal place,” recalls Chloe. “I bought this $400 guitar—definitely wasn’t the fanciest or most expensive guitar—but it reignited my love for music and songwriting, so I named it Ayodele, which means ‘joy has come home’ or ‘the return of happiness.’”

Produced by Michael Muchow at RagTag Studios, Ayodele marks a strong follow-up for a band already making serious noise across the Australian country, folk and Americana landscape.

“To honour the meaning behind it, we recorded the entire track live—one take, all in one room, sitting in a circle. No overdubs, no re-takes or re-records. What you hear is exactly what we played in that moment. When we finished recording, it felt like a weight had lifted—over a decade’s worth of emotion and history just released. It wasn’t just my moment; it was something the whole band felt together,” says Chloe.

That sense of shared release is palpable. The track breathes. It swells and softens in real time. You can hear the room, the closeness, the trust between players, each moment unfolding exactly as it happened. It’s a stark contrast to the band’s previous single Cheaper Than Therapy, a groovy roots infused bop, which cemented the band as a rising force. But Ayodele isn’t just a follow-up, it’s a statement. A reminder that behind the momentum, there’s depth. There’s history. And there’s a band willing to take risks to honour it.