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FEATURE MUSIC

THE ESTABLISHED ICONS I t seemed Snickers-level nuts that Thelma Plum ’s 2019 album was her debut – the Gamilaraay singer-songwriter had been a fixture of radio play, festivals and awards stages since 2012, delivering increasingly divine pop treats to our ears. But Better in Blak displayed Plum’s talents at an apex we hadn’t yet seen, and the AMP-nommed, ARIA-winning, arrow-to-the-heart LP remains a testament to Plum’s candid and intuitive talent. Meanwhile, she’s just released of Australian Idol , she’s represented us at Eurovision, starred in popular TV drama The Secret Daughter (which also spawned two excellent soundtrack albums), became a judge on The Voice , and in 2019 released the extraordinary LP Hilda . With her recent sashay over to Warner and transcendent new tracks receiving Triple J airplay, we get the feeling there’s a new album very close by.

Thelma Plum

new track Backseat of My Mind , and we’re awaiting sophomore album news any day now. From grassroots to primetime, Kuku Yalanji woman Jessica Mauboy has forged an enviable career since she won the 2004 Telstra to Tamworth comp at just 14 years old. After coming second in the 2006 series THE LEGENDS T he 2020 edition of tribute album Cannot Buy My Soul (featuring Courtney Barnett, Alice Skye, Mo’Ju and more) introduced the remarkable songs of Murri man and ARIA Hall of Famer Kev Carmody to a younger Australian audience. But we recommend you spend some time with the lauded singer songwriter’s 2015 release Recollections… Reflections… (A Journey) to hear the power of the man’s storytelling and melodic genius – it’s truly breathtaking. Also etched into the lauded annals of the ARIA Hall of Fame – and our AlbumTales feature artist for this month – is Archie Roach AM, whose 1990 track Took the Children Away launched a career marked by myriad events: global tours, a pile of awards, intensive activism, lung cancer, the death of Ruby Hunter – Roach’s soul mate, whom he met while living on the streets as a young man and with whom he forged a remarkable musical partnership and loving home – and ten albums of uniquely stirring music, all telling his own and his ancestors’ stories with bittersweet beauty. Check out The Songs of Charcoal Lane and My Songs (1989-2021) in particular. With two albums now having received AMP nominations, Gumbainggir woman Emma Donovan has never been a slouch – she was performing to huge audiences with The Donovans when she was just a wee seven-year-old. A former member of the Stiff Gins and the Black Arm Band, Donovan now unleashes her (frankly astonishing) soul pipes at the mic with her band the Putbacks, while still finding time to appear in numerous docos and collab with a who’s who of Australia’s most revered artists. Do not miss her most recent LP, Under These Streets . Flying the flag in the ‘country’ camp

Thelma Plum i s playing dates across the country Sep-Nov; details at thelmaplum. com . Jess Mauboy is playing dates across the country Sep-Dec; details at jessicamauboy. com.au/#tour .

Jessica Mauboy

is Nicest Guy In Music (and whiz at designing a heart-shredding melody), Troy Cassar Daley . Coming from the Gumbaynggirr and Bundjalung people of northern coastal NSW, Cassar-Daley’s 13 albums and too-numerous to-mention awards have culminated in his highest-charting LP to date: last year’s brilliant The World Today . (Bonus: check out the material of Troy’s 20-year-old daughter Jem Cassar-Daley, whose fledgling career is about to take off!) And finally, one of the most astounding talents Australia has ever produced: the late Dr GYunupingu, also known to his legions of fans around the world as Gurrumul . The decorated Yol ŋ u musician possessed a voice startling in its distinctive purity, and he sang both in-language (Gaalpu, Gumatj and Djambarrpuynu) and English. The mega successful albums he released while alive (as a member of Yothu Yindi and the Saltwater band, as well as solo) were joined by the posthumous LPs Djarimirri (Child of the Rainbow) – which won the 2018 AMP and hit number one on the ARIA chart – and last year’s The Gurrumul Story compilation. If you’ve yet to discover the man’s work, the time is now. Archie Roach is playing Melbourne 7/8 and Sydney Opera House 7-8/10; details at archieroach.com/tour . Emma Donovan & the Putbacks are playing dates across the country Jul-Nov; details at emmadonovan.com/live . Troy Cassar-Daley i s taking the ‘Together Alone’ tour (with Ian Moss) across the country Jul-Aug and Oct; details at troycassardaley.com.au/touring/ .

Kev Carmody

Archie Roach and Ruby Hunter

Emma Donovan

Troy Cassar-Daley

Gurrumul

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