Australian folk artist Leah Senior has never sounded particularly interested in shouting above the noise, and her new single ‘Softly, Once Again’ leans directly into that instinct. Taken from her upcoming fifth album Pt. Roadknight, due June 19 via Third Eye Stimuli and SPINSTER, the track arrives as a quietly pointed reflection on creativity, performance and the strange pressure to constantly amplify yourself in an increasingly crowded scene.
Senior describes the track as emerging during a period where the demands of self-promotion were beginning to weigh heavily against her natural creative rhythm. Rather than forcing herself into louder territory, the song becomes a kind of permission slip to continue working in the hushed, intricately arranged style that has gradually made her one of the most distinctive voices in Australian folk over the last decade.
There’s a warmth to the arrangement that keeps the song from drifting too far into introspection. Flute and horn arrangements from Hank Clifton-Williamson and Liam McGorry give the track a wandering, pastoral quality, while the live recording approach preserves its loose and organic atmosphere. Beatles-inflected pop melodies weave through the song without ever overwhelming its fragile centre.
The upcoming album Pt. Roadknight was written while Senior was living in a sandstone beach shack along Victoria’s Surf Coast near Anglesea, and those shifting coastal moods appear to seep through the record’s framework. At times grey and isolated, at others playful and windswept, the album reportedly traces the emotional rhythms of the seasons alongside broader reflections on isolation, modernity and gentrification.
Over the years, Senior has quietly built a devoted following through albums that sit somewhere between ‘70s British psych-folk tradition and deeply Australian storytelling. Touring alongside artists including Wilco, Iron & Wine, Jessica Pratt and King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard has only reinforced her reputation as one of the country’s most singular contemporary folk writers.
With a national tour now locked in following the album’s release, including regional stops across Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and the ACT, ‘Softly, Once Again’ feels less like a retreat from the noise than a reminder that subtlety can still cut through it.
Go HERE for tour dates and tickets.
