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Joanna Newsom announces Australian tour

Words by Dalton Woods

On the back of her fourth studio album’s release, Joanna Newsom has announced plans to play in Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney next year.

Divers, which was officially released today after half a decade in the making, sees the return of Newsom’s chirping and wailing on top of pretty and intricate instrumentals.

On Newsom’s fifth tour of Australia, she will perform at Melbourne’s Hamer Hall on January 19, the Sydney Opera House on January 21, and Queensland’s Performing Arts Centre on 23 January.

The Opera House concert hall performance is a part of the 2016 Sydney Festival, which also includes psychedelic rockers The Flaming Lips and Australia’s greatest jam band The Dirty Three.

Newsom’s new release sees a slight tweak on the delicate orchestral arrangements heard on Ys and Have One on Me. Employing a wider range of instruments, including a variety of keyboards and synths, Newsom crafts a more atmospheric and varied work – her harp still features prominently, of course.

The 33-year-old described her approach to composing Divers, emphasising distinct tones for each song: “I also spent a year or two on the instrumental arrangements and overdubs. I wanted the character and colours of the instrumentation to shift definitively, from song to song, which entailed a wide pool of collaborators and a lengthy collaborative process with each person.”

Tickets for all three shows will be available this Monday 26 October at 9am. Tickets and more details to come!