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After living in the United Kingdom for more than two decades, Emily Barker – the prolific, award-winning contemporary singer-songwriter best known for composing and performing the theme for Wallander, the BBC’s hugely successful crime drama starring Kenneth Branagh – returned home to Western Australia to begin a new musical chapter with her latest single, ‘Wild to be Sharing This Moment’, out today through Everyone Sang/Kartel Music Group and embarking on a national tour with UK artist, Frank Turner.

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While waiting for the train at London’s Kings Cross Station, inspiration struck. Emily quickly plucked a notebook from her bag to document her musings. “I was people-watching and thinking of how vulnerable we all are, with our own stories and secrets, all sharing this same moment in time and space,” she recalls. Emily had been at a birthday party celebrating a friend’s son turning one and a wave of nostalgia washed over her for a simpler time living on a narrowboat in London. “I’d had a couple of G&Ts,” she quips.

On the train, “there were passengers sleeping at awkward angles, some reading, some playing games on their phones, some with masks, most without, some listening to music and tapping a foot, children clinging to parents.

“I found myself questioning where empathy has gone,” Emily remembers. “The song is about compassion. The war in Ukraine had just started and it was all feeling very intense, much like it is right now.”

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“I’m an advocate for keeping conversation alive across divides,” Emily stresses, “for trying to approach each encounter as an opportunity for connection. We must find our common humanity in order to make the world a safer, better place for us all to live in.”

Arresting drums and sparse, plaintive synths and guitar usher in Emily’s lilting, pensive vocal as a sustained undercurrent creates a sense of forward momentum. ‘Wild to be Sharing This Moment’ unfurls gradually, propelling the listener towards a vast, cinematic climax, each additional verse bringing new meaning to the instantly memorable chorus.

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The song’s accompanying music video, created by Headjam, zooms in on a formative moment: a group of teenage girls on school photo day, with Emily playing the role of photographer. “We don’t know anything about them, but we have this snapshot of a key moment in their lives and are left to wonder about their hopes and fears and who they might go on to be,” she explains.

Of the apposite timing of her latest single, Emily acknowledges, “Songs sometimes reveal a life of their own — the world changes around them, but they still speak to the moment.”

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Alongside the release of ‘Wild to be Sharing This Moment’, Emily Barker embarks on a tour opening for her long-time friend and collaborator, Frank Turner.

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Tour Dates

17 Nov – WELLINGTON Hunter Lounge
18 Nov – AUCKLAND Studio
21 Nov – CANBERRA The Basement
22 Nov – SYDNEY Enmore Theatre
24 Nov – BRISBANE The Tivoli
26 Nov – MELBOURNE The Forum
28 Nov – PERTH Astor Theatre
29 Nov – ADELAIDE Hindley Street Music Hall

Emily & Frank will also appears at Queenscliff Music Festival on 25 and 26 November.

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Follow EMILY BARKER
Tik Tok – Instagram – Facebook – Spotify

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AMNPLIFY – DB