Gomeroi country music star Kyla-Bell Roberts has released her latest single 'Took a Turn' featuring Nooky, with the track debuting on triple j Unearthed last week.

The 17-year-old from Moree is continuing her rise after winning the 2025 triple j Unearthed High Indigenous Initiative with her single 'Myself', a result that led to mentoring with Nooky and helped bring the collaboration together.

She wrote 'Took a Turn' several years ago, but decided to take the track in a new direction by pairing her country sound with rap.

She said the collaboration came together after her Unearthed win opened the door to work with Yuin & Thunghutti rapper, Nooky.

"We knew we were going to release 'Took a Turn', but we thought that we'd do something different with it just because we've done the country stuff," she said.

"Why don't we add a rapper to it?

"Then I ended up winning the Indigenous Initiative section of triple j Unearthed and Nooky's name came up."

The session gave Ms Roberts the chance to watch an established artist build a verse in real time.

She said the studio process quickly became one of the standout parts of the release.

"It was an amazing experience in the studio," she said.

"Just getting to watch him actively write the rap, like he wrote the rap in front of us all.

"It was just crazy and just getting to see how he works in the studio."

The song itself is grounded in Ms Roberts' own life and reflects moving through difficult periods into something stronger.

She said the track tells the story of coming through hard times and finding a better path.

"The song is really about coming from hard times and coming out of it,' she said.

"My life took a turn for the better.

"So I just use music as a way to tell that story."

Ms Roberts is balancing the growing attention around her music with school, using weekdays for classes and assessments and keeping weekends for practice and performance.

She said her teachers have supported her music journey and that she has chosen subjects with songwriting and creativity in mind.

"I feel like my teachers are very supportive about my music journey," she said.

"I really took music into mind when I thought about what I wanted to do for my subjects this year."

Ms Roberts also told the National Indigenous Times exclusively that more music is already on the way in the coming weeks.

She said this year is focused on releasing more songs, securing gigs and continuing to build her audience.

The message she wants listeners to take from 'Took a Turn' is one of perspective and resilience.

"I really just hope people kind of use their bad times and look at it more in a positive sense of where they're at now."

'Took a Turn' featuring Nooky is available now on all major streaming platforms.