SARAH BELKNER’S DEBUT ALBUM BUT YOU ARE, BUT IT HAS, OUT NOW
Sydney artist Sarah Belkner brings us her beautifully crafted empathetic world of a debut album BUT YOU ARE, BUT IT HAS, a dreamscape indie pop record that ferries catchy, emotional vocal hooks to a rich world of complex, subtle and layered arrangements, released through MGM. Drawing attention for her enigmatic live performances Belkner recently supported OLYMPIA on her national album tour and toured the UK & Europe opening for Sarah Blasko.
The album is a true body of work, that has a new level of majestic production and ingenuity. Produced by Sarah Belkner and her husband, highly renowned engineer Richard Belkner, at their studio Free Energy Device in Camperdown, BUT YOU ARE, BUT IT HAS, is both intricate and clear in its songwriting, performance and production. A refreshing alternative somewhere between pop, baroque and electronic in a body of great songwriting.
“I’m definitely a writer and musician who uses their work to learn about life and how to live. I wanted to create an album of songs with my band and Richie wielding the studio that really had it’s very own clear feeling you can get lost in. A textural contradiction of clear humble starkness and an epic fantastical feel at the same time, that soothes and challenges. There’s a lot of themes about acceptance in order to be able to move forward and also cause and effect via this kind of dialogue and commentary. I’ve learnt so much from it musically and personally and I hope other people get something from it too.” – SARAH BELKNER
Alongside Belkner’s astonishing vocal performance sits an elite selection of singers including Elana Stone, NGAIIRE, Billie McCarthy and Brendan Maclean in what has been dubbed the ‘Banshee Chorus’. Also performing with Belkner on ‘BUT YOU ARE, BUT IT HAS’ are some of Australia’s finest musicians: Neal Sutherland on bass (Jack Ladder/Bertie Blackman/Sarah Blasko), Matt Keegan on Synthesised Saxophone and clarinet (Beautiful Girls/Canyons) and Evan Mannell on drums and MPC (Lior/Bertie Blackman).
Having dropped singles “Time” and “Cellophane” in 2016 to great reception, and her EP HUMANS in 2015, Belkner continues to solidify her place in the music scene as a new voice, transcendent performer, talented writer, arranger and producer. BUT YOU ARE, BUT IT HAS sits just that right amount outside of genres to bring its own perspective, place and moment.
See Belkner’s work through your own eyes at the But You Are, But It Has album launches:
Tuesday 28th February @ The Wine Cellar, Auckland, NZ
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Friday 31st March @ Oxford Art Factory Gallery, SYD
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Thursday 6th April @ The Wesley Anne, Northcote, VIC
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Sarah Belkner has an impressive knack for bolstering open, accessible, pop songwriting with little blasts of colour and eccentricity. Genuinely surprising and delightfully adventurous.
–The Music
The musicianship throughout is astounding, but never thrust in your face. It’s mature, timeless pop that nails those vital core elements and adds a little extra to keep things interesting.
– DAN CONDON, Double J
“A pop artist who resists the urge to crunch silly beats into it. Assured, fragile, tender, sexy”
–MELBOURNE AGE
“It is clear she has something valuable to contribute to the music industry”
–SUNDAY SUN HERALD
“A gorgeous piece of stripped back, slightly broken Indie pop, with enough quirk to ensure it haunts your brain for days” – MUSIC FEEDS
“This baroque pop gem” – Lachlan Wyllie, FBi RADIO
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