Worimi singer-songwriter and ordained priest Lydia Fairhall has released her second album 'The Narrows' and new single 'Bloom', ahead of a free performance at Brisbane Festival.
Ms Fairhall will perform at the Festival Village Green, QPAC Forecourt, on September 15 from 1pm to 2pm, following the July 31 release.
The indie folk artist's return follows several years away from releasing music, during which she trained for ordained ministry and became a priest.
Her decision followed a calling she experienced while walking alone in the bush, deepening her work as an artist and bringing music and ministry together.
'The Narrows' draws on the period before that calling, when her life began to fracture and she started questioning the relationships and ideas that had shaped it.
Across ten tracks, the album explores grief, surrender and the freedom that can come from letting go of an earlier sense of self.
Ms Fairhall uses the image of a narrow gate to explain that journey.
"As a priest, I often describe this as the difficult and demanding path into freedom, salvation and wisdom, but it is a concept shared across many cultures and religions," Ms Fairhall said.
"In each of these songs I am exploring the idea that the gate is narrow because the false self cannot fit through it. And so it must die."
Songs including 'Miss Maybe', 'Shadows', 'Fly So Fast I Fall' and 'Bloom' reflect a process that moves between setbacks and change.
'Bloom' and 'Shadows' explore loving people through addiction and recognising that love cannot always save someone.
Both draw on Ms Fairhall's experience of stepping away from people she loves.
"So many times in my life I have had to leave the ones I love because addiction had taken over their lives," she said.
"The sun must set on those relationships, sometimes for a time, sometimes forever.
"My prayer each day is that they know I am here when the ice of that deep winter begins to melt."
Written entirely by Ms Fairhall, 'The Narrows' was produced and engineered by Samuel Pankhurst, mixed by Jake Miller and mastered by Alex Wharton at Abbey Road Studios in London.
The recording combines acoustic songwriting, folktronica, cello and harmonies, expanding songs that began with acoustic guitar.
Mr Pankhurst's approach helped shape Ms Fairhall's vocal performances and the album's storytelling.
"He encouraged me to restrain and to focus on an intimacy in the vocals that really lends itself to the storytelling," she said.
"He hears sound as colours and knows the beauty of leaving some things unresolved while fully actualising others."
The album closes with 'Free', bringing together its themes of surrender and release.
The song reflects the point Ms Fairhall reached by the end of the journey.
"There was nothing left to do but let go and set myself free," she said.
"For me, that freedom wasn't found by escaping life, or conquering it, but by dying to it.
"The mystic tradition has always understood that the truest freedom comes when the false self loosens its grip and we learn to live in the Spirit."
Ms Fairhall has received a Sidney Myer Creative Fellowship, a Creative Australia Fellowship and a Green Room Award for Best Composition.
Her work includes composing for 'Heart Is A Wasteland', while her recent single 'Winter Came' received international attention.
She has performed and presented work at the Sydney Opera House, Melbourne Recital Centre, Brisbane Festival, Woodford Folk Festival and BIGSOUND.
'The Narrows' and new single 'Bloom' are available now on streaming platforms.
