EMILY ULMAN RETURNS WITH SPARKLING NEW SINGLE ‘SEVERE CLEAR’ THE TITLE TRACK FROM HER FORTHCOMING ALBUM, ‘SEVERE CLEAR’, OUT OCTOBER 10
A bright and dulcet addition to her ever-growing repertoire, Melbourne/Narrm singer-songwriter, and music industry legend, Emily Ulman today returns with Severe Clear, the sparkling title track from her forthcoming album of the same name set for release on Friday, October 10.
Blending her buoyant charm with acoustic, folk and pop elements, Severe Clear channels a poignant optimism, with Emily nodding to Johnny Nash’s I Can See Clearly Now to evoke “the hope after the heavy.” As Emily explains, “Severe clear is an aviation term describing skies so clear and cloudless that the endless visibility is too much to take in. I have always loved the phrase. Severe clear weather often follows a storm, and that resonates with me too. A furious, cloudy pocket of weather giving way to something calm and bright and still. Pilots say these conditions are dazzling,almost too perfect.”
“Severe Clear is a song about the moments that arrive after everything has settled,” Emily adds. “It’s about clarity that is so beautiful it is almost unbearable. That strange kind of beauty: perfect, but piercing. I think about weather a lot. I lean right in because it is intrinsic. And magical. This song lives in that space between forecast and feeling. It is about the quiet, everyday moments that suddenly become enormous in their clarity. Like standing in the middle of something spectacular and letting yourself be swept up by it. It is about love, about letting yourself be soft and fall, it’s about buying matching towels because you want to be one and the same. Johnny Nash wrote ‘I Can See Clearly Now’. And I’m borrowing the idea that after the clouds and hard times pass, something brighter takes their place. Sometimes clarity isn’t sharp or sudden or cold. Sometimes it is soft and patient and a little bit dizzying. And perfect.”
With Severe Clear – both the single and broader album – Emily worked alongside a stellar team to realise her creative vision. Produced and mixed by Bonnie Knight (Amyl and the Sniffers, Angie McMahon, Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers) at The Aviary, with Every Hillside recorded at Soundpark, the album was mastered by Simon Berckelman (Courtney Barnett, Passenger, Lime Cordiale, Cate Le Bon). Drawing inspiration from the likes of Julia Jacklin, Adrienne Lenker, Big Thief, Pinegrove and Bill Callahan the album’s songwriting, structure and emotional weight are further enriched by contributions from Gab Strum (Japanese Wallpaper, Mallrat, Gretta Ray), Alex Lashlie (Closet Straights, Loose Tooth), and Soren Maryasin (Stella Bridie, Chitra).
Beginning with its glowing title track, Severe Clear opens on a serene and stirring note, offering an optimistic warm embrace drawing listeners into Emily’s inner world. From there, the album moves through intimate acoustic beauty and soothing harmonies (Every Hillside), wistful melodies over ethereal backdrops (Fans in the Stands), and a folksy yet cinematic ode to life’s highs and lows (Mountains Mountains Mountains). It balances polished introspection (Trundle), stripped-back glimmers that swirl through your bones (Lake Mistake), and gentle flourishes of empowerment (Planned Burn). At the midpoint of Severe Clear, is an exquisite, vulnerable modern love ballad (Liminal Spaces) that gives way to brooding melancholia (Toughest Tourniquet), before the raw, rousing penultimate track If It Isn’t True, where Emily shifts between vocal serenity and spoken word over sparse, moody instrumentation. Closing with Repeat Things, Severe Clear ends in resounding clarity and vulnerability, carrying inescapable undertones of optimism through heartache, change, and renewal – a perfect embodiment of Emily’s potent songwriting and performance, as well as the broader album’s themes.
“Severe Clear is about change,” shares Emily, “and renewal. About being brave enough to step back into something you love, even after a long absence. It is an album full of mountains and hillsides and clouds and clarity. It is about duality. The ability to hold two conflicting and coexisting truths at the same time. Severe Clear is deciduous. A letting go and a returning. A way to make peace with the cycles that keep pulling me back to songwriting, and back to myself.”
A defining force in the Australian music industry for over two decades, both on stage and behind the scenes, Emily Ulman’s lengthy tenure championing artists has seen her curate and program lineups at some of Melbourne’s most iconic venues, including The Prince Bandroom, The Gasometer Hotel, and The Toff In Town. Additionally, Emily has programmed some of the country’s most significant music events, including Brunswick Music Festival, White Night Melbourne, the CHANGES summit, and her own award-winning online festival Isol-Aid, which received the 2020 triple j J Award for “Done Good” and was named Best Festival at the 2021 Music Victoria Awards. Recently, Emily served as Executive Program Director for ALWAYS LIVE, a Victorian state-wide celebration of contemporary music, inclusive of emerging artists through to international icons, from sell-out stadiums through to intimate venues all playing home to these one-off, exclusive and community-focused events.
Dedicated to shaping a more progressive, inclusive and artist-first Australian music scene, Emily’s creative output is as acclaimed as her work behind the scenes, with her earlier 2025 single Every Hillside marking her first new solo material in over a decade. Now with her stunning and hotly-anticipated new album Severe Clear set for release this October, Emily has channelled her passions and creative core into a collection that is honest, intimate and destined to captivate.
“I’m a words and feelings to the front type of writer,” Emily reveals. “I have described my songwriting as emotional archaeology; digging through my memories to see what might still be living underneath. To sift and sort and better myself as a creator and as a person. I’m constantly taken by the intensity of a moment or phrase and the way a single word can unearth something you thought was long buried. And this is who I realise I am. I write to excavate. I sing to archive and fossilise and remember the mess and magic of it all.”
“It feels really good, really scary, really perfect, really disorienting to be releasing Severe Clear,” Emily concludes. “This is the first time in ten years that I’ve released music and it’s so familiar and wildly foreign. I’ve spent the past decade working behind the scenes in the music industry, but I never stopped writing. I’m glad that Severe Clear is the song and album returning me to my own music and creativity. It’s honest and personal, and I’m proud of it.”
Severe Clear (single) is out today.
Severe Clear (album) is due out Friday October 10.
Pre-order: SEVERE CLEAR (Album)
Pre-save: SEVERE CLEAR (Album)
TRACKLIST:
Side A
- Severe Clear
- Every Hillside
- Fans in the Stands
- Mountains Mountains Mountains
- Trundle
Side B
6. Lake Mistake
- Planned Burn
- Liminal Spaces
- Toughest Tourniquet
- If it Isn’t True
- Repeat Things
“Emily Ulman, you’ve done it again, it’s an exquisite song, ‘Mountains Mountains Mountains’…. it’s so lovely to hear a voice that we know so well as a co-host and a conversationalist, to hear that voice just amplified and there’s an alchemy that takes place that turns the voice we know into lyrical mode, it’s very specially to hear that tune…. what a storyteller, it’s a short song at 2 minutes 12 but she just packs so much in”. – David Astle – ABC Victoria statewide evenings
“Love how organic and natural this track (Mountains Mountains Mountains) feels! Emily Ulman creates a gorgeous atmosphere <3” –
Anika Luna – triple j
“It’s all sweetness when it comes to Emily Ulman. Dulcet yet pointed songwriting makes it the worth the wait after an almost-decade hiatus. Welcome back Emily!” – Sara Glaidous – triple j
Brazen Barbie Unleashes Her Boldest Era Yet with New Mixtape ‘BRAZEN’
Grit, glam, and unfiltered attitude collide as Kenyan-Australian artist Brazen Barbie drops her hotly anticipated mixtape BRAZEN, alongside the standout new single Deep End — out now.
A kaleidoscopic portrait of resilience, sass, and self-awareness, BRAZEN is a genre-bending, 12-track mixtape that walks the line between vulnerability and bravado. It’s not just music — it’s diary entries you can dance to.
Leading the charge is Ain’t No Dummy, the very first track locked in for the project — and the one that set the tone for everything that followed. “I wrote it during a time when I felt like people kept underestimating me,” Brazen Barbie shares. “In relationships, friendships, life. I wanted something bold, bratty, but still smart. There’s a real tension in choosing chaos — but doing it on your terms.”
With BRAZEN, Brazen Barbie brings her boldest self to the surface — showing off not only the bars, but the brains and bruises behind them. It’s her most personal, potent, and playful body of work to date.
Whether it’s the glittering menace of Doomsday, the swagger of Can’t Hang, or the soul-stirring resilience of Anyway, each track is layered with meaning and intention — even when delivered with a wink.
Having already turned heads at BIGSOUND, SXSW, Sydney Fringe Festival, and Promiseland, Brazen Barbie is no stranger to commanding a stage — or a space. Her Acclaim Magazine All Stars Class of ’24 nod and features in VICE, triple j Unearthed, and Life Without Andy to name just a few, only reinforce what’s already clear: she’s not here to follow. She’s here to lead.
“BRAZEN is a self-portrait,” she concludes. “Each track is a snapshot of a different mood or moment in my life, and a different version of the voice in my head. I wanted it to feel like turning up, in your head, and in a diary all at once.”
BRAZEN is out now on all platforms. Play it loud, feel it fully, and don’t say you weren’t warned.
THE NOMADIC UNVEILS STIRRING NEW SINGLE ‘MARIE ANTOINETTE’ TAKEN FROM SOPHOMORE ALBUM ‘NEW HORIZONS’ DUE OUT DECEMBER 14
A haunting yet hopeful exploration of love, loss and growth, the stirring new single Marie Antoinette out today from Sydney singer songwriter The Nomadic offers a sweeping glance into the artist’s upcoming sophomore album, with New Horizons imminently beckoning for release on December 14.
Helmed by singer-songwriter Rob Gaylard, The Nomadic sweeps in today with a glimmering and oscillating bundle of melancholy and optimism, with Marie Antoinette stylistically nodding to the likes of early Coldplay, Radiohead, Phosphorescent, The War On Drugs, The 1975 and The National, while also fostering The Nomadic’s introspective and immersive unique flair. “Marie Antoinette is about being in a relationship with someone where things are so close to working but it’s not quite there,” explains Gaylard. “You both have work to do on yourselves, you both have hidden trauma, there’s a revolution coming for both of you! You just don’t know it yet! But over time you will come to see the silver lining in the current (painful!) cloud and realise that you grew from pain, suffering, hardship and crisis. The song is not about anyone in particular, just really inspired by the stage of life I was at and the observations of the world around me and the struggles friends and family were going through!”
After relocating back to Sydney in 2022 following years as a regular fixture on the New York City indie rock scene, Gaylard’s original designs for his latest body of sonic work also grew alongside working with some high-profile local talent, with an army of collaborators from around the industry joining Gaylard to grow The Nomadic journey; and, to ultimately bring both Marie Antoinette and its broader album New Horizons to full-bodied life. “I was lucky enough to work with some of the best in the business!” shares Gaylard. “I relocated home to Sydney Australia in 2022 and recorded New Horizons with Dan Frizza in Sydney at Forbes Studios. The Nomadic is the best of Aussie rock talent, with Miles Thomas (Lior, Ronan Keating, Montaigne) on drums, Oliver Thorpe (The Whitlams, Matt Corby, Meg Mac) on guitar, and Brendan Clark (Meg Mac, Montaigne, Jack River) on bass. Dan Frizza as producer lends the kind of magic touch that has seen him enrich the work of the likes of Tones and I, King Princess, and Gurrumul.”
Mastered by Greg Calbi of Sterling Sound in New Jersey, New Horizons builds upon the foundations set by The Nomadic’s 2022 debut album My Mind is Racing. Detailing themes of loss, change and hope amongst fluctuating moments of indie hues, classic and modern rock, wistful anthems, alt-country and more, New Horizons feels instantly intimate and welcoming, with many of Gaylard’s own powerful experiences percolating throughout. “The main themes of the album are feelings of being stuck in life and having the feeling that there is ‘something out there better for you’, of not wanting to let go of dreams, going through big changes professionally and personally, loss of relationships, and generally life upheavals!” Gaylard reveals. “This personal theme is set against the backdrop of major global changes and events, including the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, climate change, social and societal changes, and revolutions in the west.”
Opening with calm melancholy, New Horizons kicks off with Treading Water, before diving into an alt-country-meets-rock charmer courtesy of All Changed. From here, The Nomadic explore more upbeat rock territory (the Led Zeppelin-inspired First Light), unbridled and driving optimism (Don’t Give Up On Your Dreams), and a Bloc-Party-esque propulsive rocker (Hearts And Minds), with the latter also traversing heartache set against a personal backdrop of political instability and crumbling security witnessed by Gaylard during his time spent with the UN in Afghanistan between 2009 and 2011. Shifting into glossy emotives via title track New Horizons, a sublime nine minute opus buoyed by violin and cello, the album’s second half oozes into wistful beauty (Luminescent View), evocative storytelling (Erasing Mental Photographs), and a nod to The Boss himself, aka Bruce Springsteen, via The Absolution; also another track heavily influenced by Gaylard’s time in Afghanistan, and in particular the mental health issues caused by America’s troop surge in 2009. And returning again to some alt-country flavours with Blood Red Sky, recalling the devastating Australian bushfires in early 2020, New Horizons ultimately closes out with a rousing call to arms (Revolution), the gentle yet equally powerful stylings of Find A Way, and, ultimately, its closing track, and also The Nomadic’s brand new single out today: Marie Antoinette.
Imbued with a passion for music and songwriting from a young age, Rob Gaylard’s road to forming The Nomadic stemmed from his own nomadic lifestyle, living in five different countries in the first 10 years of his life, including Australia, Burma, Singapore, the Soloman Islands and the UK. This nomadic theme continued into Gaylard’s adulthood, with the talented creative living and working with the United Nations, national governments and NGOs in Kenya, Somalia, the Sudan, Afghanistan, Indonesia, and Israel/Palestine. Also a massive sports fan alongside his musical pursuits, Gaylard’s adventures under The Nomadic moniker entices listeners to enter a world of boundless melodies and wanderlust-inspired styles, first witnessed in 2022 with The Nomadic’s debut album My Mind is Racing, and set to flourish further this December with the release of New Horizons. Commencing The Nomadic project in 2014 off the back of immersing himself in the vibrant energy during a stint in New York City, Gaylard ultimately returned to his Australian roots in 2022, teaming up with producer Dan Frizza to begin work in earnest on New Horizons in 2023; and the rest is set to be history.
“It’s incredibly exciting to be releasing Marie Antoinette today!” shares Gaylard. “It feels like the culmination of a long journey, from the initial conception of the songs to the development and creation of the final product in the studio, mixing and mastering! Combine that with the emotional experience of going through some rough times and coming out the other side to see some New Horizons – overall It’s been a bit of a marathon!”
Marie Antoinette is out today.
The Nomadic’s full-length album New Horizons is due out Saturday December 14.
Soundcloud: MARIE ANTOINETTE
Stream: MARIE ANTOINETTE