Paulina and Tom Thum Drop Explosive Alt-Pop Anthem “Wrong Signal”

At just 21, Paulina is already rewriting what it means to be an Australian pop artist with something real to say. Her new single, “Wrong Signal," co-created with world-renowned beatboxer Tom Thum, is a fearless alt-pop anthem built from truth, the kind of track that makes empowerment sound electric.

Rooted in a powerful real-life moment during a night out in Berlin, “Wrong Signal” transforms fear into fire. It’s Paulina at her most self-assured yet, blending vulnerability, strength, and the gritty honesty of a generation that’s done being quiet.

With a Queensland Music Award already under her belt and an EP slated for 2026, Paulina is stepping into her next era with unfiltered energy and fearless experimentation.

Keep reading for our interview with Paulina, where she opens up about the night that inspired “Wrong Signal,” her creative chemistry with Tom Thum, and how she’s evolving into one of Australia’s most distinctive new voices.

"Wrong Signal” is a fearless anthem about self-worth. What personal experiences shaped this track?

When writing this, I specifically pictured a night I was out at an event in Berlin 2 years ago! I was there with a lot of my girlfriends, and by the end of the night, we started talking about how we were all gonna get home, which then led to us all talking about these crazy, scary experiences we’ve had walking alone at night. The stories we all had were mental & it was even crazier to think that none of us were over the age of 25 yet either. The fact that we were all so young yet had already gone through such terrifying things was just really sad. But at the same time, it felt really good to talk about it with everyone because I felt a lot stronger and weirdly proud of myself for being a girly, haha, because we’re all honestly so strong for being able to make it out of situations like that and also not let them affect our lives & our futures, if that makes sense? :)

You and Tom Thum have built a strong creative partnership. What makes this collaboration so powerful?

I don’t know I think it’s because we both really just love to make music & like to mess around & be open to experiment with new sounds. We love to take objects like tea mugs, beer bottles, or anything really that we find lying around in the studio & just record ourselves making sounds with said objects & let that inspire us. We’re just super open to letting anything inspire us to make a song - whether it’s my voice, his beatboxing, and the insane sounds he can make, or just random lil household objects!

Winning the Youth Award at the Queensland Music Awards was huge. How did that recognition impact your career path?

It really just gave me a lot more confidence in what I was doing!! When I first decided I wanted to write & record music, I had ‘winning a qma’ on my list of things I wanted to achieve within my first 10 years of pursuing my career, and then having won one only in my 2nd year of releasing music was wild!! It was just a sweet reminder to trust in myself & in what I’m creating!

From “Jaded” to “Focus on Me” and now “Wrong Signal,” how would you describe the evolution of your sound?

These are some of my favorite songs I’ve written (though I’m sure I’ll say that about the next ones I write lol)! But I do feel like they represent this creative point in my life, where I’m really just making music for the fun of it and for my own personal enjoyment and nothing more! And that to me is the biggest evolution I’ve seen & felt across all the music I’ve made, and it feels really good.

With an EP on the way in 2026, what can fans expect that will surprise them?

Ooo so much!! Both Tom & I love cohesive bodies of work where songs sonically flow into one another & the whole project just feels like one continuous song, without an end! So we’re experimenting with that, plus like I said above, we’re just having tons & tons of fun, so I’m really hoping that’ll translate in the songs & people will be able to feel that in the music!