Emily Ulman releases stunning new album ‘Severe Clear’
Melbourne/Narrm singer-songwriter and music industry trailblazer Emily Ulman today unveils her long-awaited new album Severe Clear — a luminous, emotionally rich collection that marks her first full-length solo release in over a decade.
Out now, Severe Clear shimmers with warmth, introspection and a quiet optimism, blending folk, pop and acoustic textures with Emily’s signature lyrical depth. Across eleven beautifully crafted tracks, she explores the stillness that follows life’s storms – those moments of piercing clarity and renewal that give the album its name.
Featuring recent singles Every Hillside and Fans in the Stands, the album’s focus track ‘Planned Burn’ stands out as a gentle yet powerful ode to transformation — an anthem for letting go, healing, and starting anew. Produced by Bonnie Knight (Amyl and the Sniffers, Angie McMahon) and mastered by Simon Berckelman (Courtney Barnett, Passenger), the record is both intimate and cinematic, drawing inspiration from artists like Julia Jacklin, Adrienne Lenker and Bill Callahan.
“Severe Clear is about change, and renewal,” Emily shares. “About being brave enough to step back into something you love, even after a long absence. It’s about clarity that is so beautiful it’s almost unbearable.”
A respected force behind some of Australia’s most beloved festivals and venues — from Brunswick Music Festival to the award-winning Isol-Aid and ALWAYS LIVE — Emily’s creative influence runs deep. With Severe Clear, she turns the focus inward, delivering a body of work that’s honest, personal and utterly captivating.
To celebrate the release, Emily will launch Severe Clear with a special live show at The Evelyn Hotel on Thursday, November 20, joined by friends and collaborators for what’s sure to be a heartfelt night of music and connection.
Severe Clear is out now on all streaming platforms.
[Listen to Severe Clear now]
[Tickets: Emily Ulman – Severe Clear Album Launch | The Evelyn Hotel – Thurs Nov 20]
Tilly Fenton releases debut EP ‘it’s a feeling that I know’ – out today
A new era of luminous indie-pop arrives today with Melbourne/Naarm artist Tilly Fenton unveiling her debut EP it’s a feeling that i know – a heartfelt and hook-filled coming-of-age collection that captures the emotional rollercoaster of growing up, falling in and out of love, and finding your voice along the way.
Across five tracks, Tilly wears her heart on her sleeve, pairing punchy guitar-driven anthems with vulnerable, reflective moments. The EP’s focus track, Your Plans, shimmers with self-assurance and emotional honesty, delivering a soaring pop moment that highlights Tilly’s knack for weaving relatable storytelling with infectious melody. It’s equal parts introspective and empowering — a snapshot of the bittersweet chaos that defines early adulthood.
Following the success of her previous singles The Secret, Valentine, and It’s You!, Tilly’s debut body of work showcases her evolution as both a songwriter and performer. Working alongside acclaimed producers Anna Laverty (Lady Gaga, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds) and Michael Belsar, she’s crafted a sound that’s bright, confessional, and distinctly her own — nodding to influences like Olivia Rodrigo, Gracie Abrams and early Miley Cyrus while carving out her own space in Australia’s new wave of pop storytellers.
To celebrate the release, Tilly will take it’s a feeling that i know to the stage for two special headline launch shows — a matinee at The Leadbeater Hotel in Melbourne on Saturday October 25, followed by an evening show at The Loft in Sydney on Sunday October 26. Fans can expect an uplifting mix of high-energy pop moments and intimate acoustic reflections, as Tilly brings her songs to life in full technicolour.
With it’s a feeling that i know, Tilly Fenton cements herself as one of Australia’s most exciting emerging voices — honest, hopeful and completely herself.
it’s a feeling that i know is out today on all streaming platforms
https://tillyfenton.lnk.to/itsafeelingthatiknow
EP focus track: Your Plans
EP launch shows:
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Melbourne – Leadbeater Hotel (Matinee), Saturday October 25
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Sydney – The Loft, Sunday October 26
EMMA DONOVAN SHARES SUMPTUOUS NEW SINGLE + VIDEO ‘TAKE ME TO THE RIVER’
One of Australia’s most celebrated voices, proud Gumbaynggirr and Yamatji artist Emma Donovan today dips into soulful waters with a sumptuous cover of Al Green’s 1974 hit Take Me To The River. The new track arrives alongside a deeply personal music video.
In a match made in heaven, Emma’s warm, velvety vocals mark the beginning of her new solo soul era, infused with her trademark storytelling and deep sense of personal connection. “I’m quite nervous releasing a song like Take Me To The River because the Al Green version is such an iconic version, and it’s a big song!”shares Emma. “But it’s exciting and good to share my perspective on it. A song like Take Me To The River is similar to an Archie Roach song like Get Back To The Land. It’s about filling that cup up after a big breakup, going to look for that Country, looking for that water, to cleanse and feel good. I love my connection to that song and I’m excited to share it.”
“My take on this song is really about family and community,” Emma continues. “We always talk about going up the river, that’s our outlet. We go fishing, we go swimming, we go to hang out, and we take the little ones and we’re there with family. We’ve been following my nannas and my grandfathers for years to the river. So hopefully, with that bit of language that we translated, people will feel the connection to that.”
No stranger to soulful territory after fronting acclaimed outfit The Putbacks, Emma’s new take on Take Me To The River also carries threads of her lifelong love of gospel and country. “In my new soul era, I would have to describe it still with country and gospel in there,” she explains. “All of those things also make up soul. There’s also a lot of soul in country, and I believe country and gospel need to be included in soul! And the other parts of my soul era are family and connection.”
“For the single itself I worked closely with Ben Edgar who has been playing guitar for me for a while, and he’s been doing most of our recordings,” Emma adds. “He pulled that sound at his home studio in Melbourne, in Belgrave. I also worked with David Symes (Boy & Bear) on this one — he plays bass on the track too. Me, Ben and David all put our three heads together for Take Me To The River.”
Adding her own unique charm to Al Green’s original, Emma weaves her personal narratives into both the song and its compelling companion video. “A lot of the concept and a lot of the story behind the clip is re-enacting some old photos and some memories that I have with family and fishing and the river,” she shares. “A lot of the reenactment is me as a little kid, but played by my own daughters in the present day. Because my grandparents were so active in my music — they were musical people and they would also fish and take us to the river — I’ve got an Aunty and Uncle just like them in the clip too.”
“For the song itself, I was channelling my nanna, my mum and her brothers,” Emma continues. “I grew up having these big fishing trips up the river of Kempsey, a little place in Northern NSW. We used to have huge trips there. Now, it’s probably not as big, but when I was a kid, we’d take all these cars full of kids and families, and we’d go out onto the back areas of the river near the airport at Kempsey. My grandmother would have to get permission to go on properties — these white fellas had bought properties, but they were at the back of the river. So, we’d go and my nan would make friends, or she’d have some connection to a lot of people who owned these properties. These were areas she’d been to when she was growing up, so I was channelling a lot of my grandmother and all of the family trips that we had going to the river in this song.”
Widely regarded as one of Australia’s most beloved voices, Emma Donovan’s career spans over two decades. The proud Gumbaynggirr and Yamatji artist has carved a singular path that fuses gospel, country and soul with the storytelling traditions of her culture. First emerging as a teenager with Stiff Gins, Emma went on to front The Putbacks, whose albums Dawn (2014), Crossover (2020) and Under These Streets (2021) earned her critical acclaim and cemented her as a vital force in Australian music. Having performed on iconic stages including WOMADelaide, Bluesfest Byron Bay and the Sydney Opera House, Emma has become a guiding voice for the next generation of First Nations artists, and in 2021 was inducted into the National Indigenous Music Awards Hall of Fame alongside her family band The Donovans. Emma’s previous album Til My Song Is Done was nominated for an ARIA last year and won an AIR Award this year.
On the horizon, Emma will perform a special multidisciplinary show — also titled Take Me To The River — that reimagines her catalogue with powerful new arrangements, visuals and storytelling. Following its premiere at Darwin Festival, the show will appear at the Melbourne International Jazz Festival this month and Sydney Festival in 2026, marking the latest chapter in a career defined by truth, power and an unwavering commitment to song.
“With these upcoming performances, fans can expect a deeper connection to these songs,” says Emma. “I love storytelling, I love putting my own spin on things. And playing live, I’ll be sharing lots of reasons why these particular songs in the show mean so much to me. I feel like with my last album I focused so much on the family, country vibe, and the gospel vibes. So, it’s been a while since I’ve sat in the soul hot seat again. This is just me slowly driving back into that area!”
Leading this new chapter is her stirring new single Take Me To The River — a song that brings Emma’s journey full circle, connecting her past to her present and luminous future, and celebrating her lifelong love of soul.
“I mostly grew up on gospel music and country music because they were the old Mission-style songs from our family,” she shares. “I was straight-up country growing up. The genre I knew outside of country leant more towards blues. My father had a big blues collection — Robert Cray, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and LaVern Baker. That was close to soul, vocally. I had a bit of Ella Fitzgerald played to me too by my father.”
“My father actually introduced Aretha Franklin to me via the Blues Brothers film,” Emma continues, “where Aretha sings in the shop, she’s trying to hold off her husband from going on tour. She sings her song Think, and that was the first time I got to know a bit more soul. And then later on down the line I remember some friends sharing with me Renée Geyer’s album Sweet Life, my friend burnt that album and sent it to me.”
“I can’t go past a good soul song that comes from a breakup. There’s some heavy breakup sad songs that I know, and I guess it could be the country influences but I’m all over that like a rash,” Emma laughs. “Ann Peebles would sing I Can’t Stand the Rain – I love a good sad, hard soul song. They’re the things that I love and that make me tick.”
Take Me To The River is out today via Civilians.
EMMA DONOVAN – UPCOMING TOUR DATES:
SAT 18 OCT | EAT DRINK PLAY GIPPSLAND, LEONGATHA VIC | All Ages
Tickets available from www.eatdrinkplaygippsland.com.au | Festival Outlets
SAT 25 OCT | MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL JAZZ FESTIVAL, MELBOURNE VIC | All Ages
Tickets available from www.melbournejazz.com | 1300 182 183 | All Ticket Outlets