Singer-songwriter Thelma Plum has released her highly-anticipated EP Meanjin, self-described as a love letter to her titular hometown.
The EP sees Thelma reflect on her youth spent in Meanjin, and much of the material was written “in between lockdowns and floods.”
It contains the acclaimed ‘Backseat of My Mind’, a “nostalgic feeling ‘driving song'”, and ‘The Brown Snake’, for which Thelma shared a music video for alongside the EP today.
Taking its title from the affectionate nickname for the Brisbane River, the accompanying clip (directed by Johnny Moubarak) sees Thelma and her band take a ferry trip along the track’s namesake, passing under the city’s iconic Story Bridge.
“In strange times you always tend to look back at warm memories for comfort, and when I was confined to an apartment overlooking The Brown Snake, I found myself writing music about Meanjin, the place I grew up in and have gravitated back to,” Thelma says about the track. “It’s blowing a musical kiss to the things I’ve loved.”
Meanjin is Thelma’s first record since her astounding 2019 debut album Better in Blak, which reached number four on the ARIA Albums Chart and received several ARIA Awards nominations.
To celebrate the release of Meanjin, the singer will be touring throughout August and September (see full dates here). She’ll be joined on The Meanjin Tour by GRAACE and Jem Cassar-Daley.
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The release of Meanjin caps a big few months for the artist. In May, she joined Paul Kelly for several special performances in Sydney for VIVID Live.
She was then nominated for Artist of the Year and Song of the Year (‘Backseat of My Mind’) at the 2022 National Indigenous Music Awards. Thelma also performed at the emotional ceremony, which came just a few days after the death of Archie Roach.
Thelma Plum’s Meanjin is out now.
Check out ‘The Brown Snake’ by Thelma Plum:
