Safia (band)

Safia is an Australian electronica, indie pop band formed in Canberra. They have released three studio albums.

Safia
Origin	Canberra, ACT, Australia
Genres	Electronic, indie pop
Years active	2009 (2009)–present
Labels	SAFIA (2012–present) Parlophone (2015–present)
Members	Ben Woolner Michael Bell Harry Sayers

Career

Safia won the Groovin' the Moo competition in 2012.^[1] The band says the name comes from a song they wrote called "Sapphire", but it does not mean anything. The band have since found out that safia means serenity in Arabic.^[2]

When it comes to the band's influences, they claim to have a very broad range of styles and genres but list artists like Purity Ring, Major Lazer, Feed Me, Chet Faker, Disclosure and James Blake.^[2]

In 2014, they were featured on Peking Duk's ARIA top 10 single, "Take Me Over".^[3]

Also in 2014, lead singer Ben Woolner appeared as feature artist on the Indian Summer single "Aged Care" under the pseudonym 'Benjamin Joseph'.^[4] The band opened for Twenty One Pilots during their 2017 Emotional Roadshow Tour Pacific Leg which started in Wellington, New Zealand.

On 30 June 2016, the band announced the title of its debut album, Internal, which was released on 9 September 2016 and peaked at number 2 on the ARIA Charts. On 13 October 2017, Safia released "Cellophane Rainbow".

In 2018, they released "Freakin' Out", which was the first track they wrote after their album Internal.^[5]

The band released their second album, Story's Start or End in September 2019. The album peaked at number 13 on the ARIA charts.

In October 2022, the band released "Falling Down", the first release since their second album Story's Start or End in 2019.^[1]

In August 2023, the band announced the forthcoming release of A Lover's Guide to a Lucid Dream and released its fourth single, "Float".^[6]

Band members

• Ben Woolner (also uses the pseudonym "Benjamin Joseph")^[7] – vocals/producer^[8]
• Michael Bell – drums/producer^[8]
• Harry Sayers – guitars/synths/producer^[8]

Discography

Studio albums

List of studio albums, with selected chart positions shown

Title	Album details	Peak chart positions	Certifications
		AUS [9]
Internal	Released: 9 September 2016 Label: Parlophone, Warner Music Australia Formats: CD, 2× LP, digital download	2	ARIA: Gold[10]
Story's Start or End	Released: 9 August 2019 Label: Warner Music Australia Formats: CD, 2× LP, digital download	13
A Lover's Guide to a Lucid Dream	Released: 22 September 2023[6] Label: Warner Music Australia Formats: CD, 2× LP, digital download	—

Live albums

List of live albums, with selected chart positions shown

Title	Album details	Peak chart positions
		AUS
Live At First Light	Released: 17 May 2024 Label: Warner Music Australia Formats: digital download

Singles

As lead artist

List of singles, with selected chart positions and certifications, showing year released and album name

Title	Year	Peak chart positions		Certifications	Album
		AUS [9]	AUS Indie [11]
"Listen to Soul, Listen to Blues"	2013	99	8	ARIA: Platinum[12]	non-album singles
"Paranoia, Ghosts & Other Sounds"	2014	—	—
"You Are the One"		—	9
"Counting Sheep"	2015	55	5
"Embracing Me"		69	—	ARIA: Gold[13]	Internal
"Make Them Wheels Roll"	2016	45		ARIA: Gold[14]
"Over You"		63
"My Love Is Gone"		—
"Cellophane Rainbow"[15]	2017	—			Story's Start or End
"Freakin' Out"[16]	2018	—			non-album single
"Starlight"[17]		—			Story's Start or End
"Resolution"[18]	2019	—
"Think We're Not Alone"[19]		—
"Runaway"[20]		—
"Falling Down"[1]	2022	—			A Lover's Guide to a Lucid Dream
"Today"[21]	2023	—
"That's the Thing About Love"[22]		—
"Float"[6]		—
"A Lover's Guide to a Lucid Dream"[23]		—
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

• In 2015, Safia signed with Parlophone. From "Embracing Me", their songs are ineligible for the Australian Indie chart.

As featured artist

List of singles, with selected chart positions and certifications, showing year released and album name

Title	Year	Peak chart positions		Certifications	Album
		AUS [9]	NZ [24]
"Take Me Over" (Peking Duk featuring SAFIA)	2014	6	32	ARIA: 3× Platinum[25]	Songs to Sweat To

Other appearances

List of other non-single song appearances

Title	Year	Album
"Take it to Reality" (Alison Wonderland featuring SAFIA)	2015	Run
"Left Hand Free"		Like a Version: Volume Eleven

Music videos

List of music videos by SAFIA

Title	Year	Director
"Listen to Soul, Listen to Blues"[26]	2013	Jimmy Ennett
"Paranoia, Ghosts & Other Sounds"[27]	2014	Jimmy Ennett and Jaeger Vallejera
"You Are the One"[28]		Jimmy Ennett
"Take Me Over" (Peking Duk featuring SAFIA)[29]		Jeff Johnson and Max Miller
"Counting Sheep"[30]	2015	Jimmy Ennett
"Embracing Me"[31]
"Take it to Reality" (Alison Wonderland featuring SAFIA)[32]
"Make Them Wheels Roll"[33]	2016	Jimmy Ennett
"Zion"[34]		SAFIA
"Over You"[35]		Markus Hofko
"My Love Is Gone"[36]		Anthony Bristol
"Cellophane Rainbow"[37]	2017	Jaeger Vallejera
"Freakin' Out"[38]	2018	Jimmy Annett
"Starlight" (Multiverse Video) [39]
"Resolution"[40]	2019	George Thomson & Lukas Schrank

Awards and nominations

AIR Awards

The Australian Independent Record Awards (commonly known informally as AIR Awards) is an annual awards night to recognise, promote and celebrate the success of Australia's Independent Music sector.

Year	Nominee / work	Award	Result
2014	"Paranoia, Ghosts & Other Sounds"	Best Independent Dance, Electronica or Club Single	Nominated

ARIA Music Awards

Since 1987 the ARIA Music Awards have run annual awards.

Year	Category	Nominated artist/work	Result
2015	Best Dance Release	"Take Me Over" (Peking Duk featuring Safia)	Nominated

APRA Awards

Since 1982 the APRA Awards are run by Australian Performing Right Association to recognise songwriting skills, sales and airplay performance by its members annually.

Year	Category	Nominated artist/work	Result
2016	Most played Australian Work	"Take Me Over" (Peking Duk featuring Safia)	Won
	Dance work of the Year

J Award

The J Awards are an annual series of Australian music awards that were established by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's youth-focused radio station Triple J. They commenced in 2005.

Year	Nominee / work	Award	Result
2013[41]	themselves	Unearthed Artist of the Year	Nominated
2016[42]	Internal	Australian Album of the Year	Nominated

National Live Music Awards

The National Live Music Awards (NLMAs) are a broad recognition of Australia's diverse live industry, celebrating the success of the Australian live scene. The awards commenced in 2016.

Year	Nominee / work	Award	Result
2016[43]	Themselves	Live Electronic Act (or DJ) of the Year	Nominated