Sally Seltmann Co-Wrote Feist's '1234' and Learned to Count on Herself

If you think you've haven't heard of Sally Seltmann, think again. While many might be unfamiliar with the Aussie singer-songwriter's name, most have certainly heard at least a sample of her sweetly melodic sound -- Seltmann's the co-writer of Feist's breakthrough single '1234.'

Having released three full-lengths -- including her new album, 'Heart That's Pounding' -- Seltmann, formerly known as New Buffalo, is no musical neophyte. But all the critical acclaim and indie cred in the world can't begin to rival that elusive pop-music prize: the monster hit. While her name may not be immediately associated with '1234,' it certainly helps pave the way for her own similarly charming tunes to be heard.

Seltmann tells Spinner she had no clue that the tune she penned years ago would grow from a little demo recorded on tour to become a global phenomenon.

"I toured with Feist in 2005 in Canada," Seltmann says of her Arts & Crafts labelmate. "I'd been listening to her album 'Let It Die' -- I heard 'Mushaboom' and I loved it, and ended up writing a song that I thought I was going to use, but then I thought maybe it sounded too much like a Feist song."

"So on the last night of the tour, I summoned up the courage to think that maybe she would want to sing on one of my songs, so I asked her, and we recorded it into a laptop on the tour bus," she explains. "And then she started playing it live, and the audience loved it. She made it kind of more upbeat and changed a few of the lyrics. And then she recorded it and it made it onto her album ['The Reminder'] -- I had no idea any of that was going to happen."

Feist debuted the then-titled 'Sally's Song' during a December 2005 Paris performance broadcast on Europe2 TV.

"It was really nice," Seltmann continues. "I felt really good about it and loved the version she came up with. I loved what she did with it and just feel like she totally deserves everything -- she worked so hard promoting that album."

The success of '1234' may have skyrocketed Feist's career to another level, but it also helped Seltmann herself in a smaller, quieter way by giving her renewed faith in her own musical abilities -- something that's evident on the breezy, effortless-sounding classic pop tunes on 'Heart That's Pounding'.

"What went on with that song was just one of those 'never think it would happen' kinda things," Seltmann notes. "It was really successful in a lot of countries. For me, it made me feel like I was a real songwriter, so it definitely gave me a bit more confidence, I think.

"I just felt really encouraged by how much faith [Feist] had in me as a songwriter, even before any of that happened. She listened to my first album and just really loved the songs."

Despite making music for the better part of a decade, Seltmann remains largely under the radar, so she understands the temptation for the industry to trumpet her connection to a single hit song rather than focus on her own growing body of work.

"It's hard to know whether [the co-writing angle] does anything or not when it comes to getting people to listen to my stuff," she admits. "But sure, my labels have kind of used that angle -- but it doesn't make me feel weird because it is a song that I co-wrote. It was weird for me before because people were always saying that I was married to Darren from the Avalanches," she quips, laughing. "That's just my personal life, but this is something that I actually achieved, so it's better that they talk about that."