Little Wise has today announced the new single Don’t Hurry Back, a delicate, narrative-based tune, out October 28. Accompanying Don’t Hurry Back is a visually stunning clip that celebrates the beauty and the grit of rural Australia, directed by Agostino Soldati (Liz Stringer, Saint Jude, Sal Kimber).
Don’t Hurry Back is the second single to be lifted from Little Wise’s debut album, the first single Under Water was released in August and will also feature on the full length Silver Birch, out November 11. To celebrate Little Wise will be hitting the road with her band in November and December on a massive national tour, kicking off in Byron Bay on November 11, then moving through Fingal Head, Brisbane, Alexandra Headland, Nambucca Heads, Sydney, Canberra, Seymour, Melbourne, Deans Marsh, Adelaide, Margate and wrapping up in Mayberry in Tasmania on December 11.
Don’t Hurry Back is an elusive piece, characterised by its sparseness, and evocative of the broad, dry landscape of a regional town. Pedal steel guitar howls in the background while Sophie Klein, the woman behind Little Wise, warbles sweetly atop the harmony. Don’t Hurry Back is a warm nod to country and roots, while still crisp, invigorating, and refreshingly Australian. Of the single, Klein says, “I wrote this song with a depressed rural town in mind; one that has had a previous mining boom that’s now shutting down. Those who are left have little prospects. It is fictional, written from the perspective of a man who is ageing, writing to his ex-lover telling her, Don’t Hurry Back.”
The debut album Silver Birch offers much more of the nostalgia and bittersweet storytelling that encompasses the lead single. Recorded in Klein’s empty childhood home and at Woodstock Studios in Balaclava and features special guest performances by Ben Franz (The Waifs), Megan Bernard and Rosie Burgess among many others.
Silver Birch is the result of a stellar crowdfunding effort of over $8,000 and MATCH funding from Creative Partnerships Australia. Klein collaborated with the production team MEJU (Megan Bernard and Kaliu Tonuma (Neil Finn, Crowded House, Hunters and Collectors)) on the record and tackles life cycles, grief, relationships and self-discovery in this remarkable collection of expertly crafted songs. Klein reflects on the album, “Many of the songs on the album are about the grief of losing my dear mum to cancer in 2013.
Silver birch trees are representative of the cycle of life, in terms of the changing of the leaves throughout the seasons. The album title is also a reference to the silver birch trees in the front yard of my family home, where the recording began, and is a recurring motif throughout the album. Amazingly poignant; you can even hear the birds chirping from those trees in the title track.”
Klein and the band will be heading out on tour in November and December to celebrate the release of Silver Birch. Excited to be hitting the road, Klein enthuses, “Fans can expect a raw and uplifting performance, where the veil between me as the performer and them as the audience is as thin as ever. People can expect to be taken on a roller coaster of emotion, leaving uplifted and connected. I often have deep lasting connections with people who come to my shows, and find the songs resonate with peoples’ personal experiences. That connection is one of the best parts of being a songwriter.”
Little Wise is Sophie Klein.
Stream single: DON’T HURRY BACK Watch the video: DON’T HURRY BACK Stream album: SILVER BIRCH Preorder album: SILVER BIRCH
LITTLE WISE ‘SILVER BIRCH’ NATIONAL TOUR
FRI 11 NOV | THE TREEHOUSE, BYRON BAY NSW | 7.30PM
Free Show | Full band
SAT 12 NOV | SHEOAK SHACK, FINGAL HEAD NSW | 2PM*
Free show | Duo
SAT 12 NOV | PADRE, BRISBANE QLD | 8.30PM | 18+
Free show |Duo | with special guest Phil Smith
SUN 13 NOV | BLACK BUNNY KITCHEN, ALEXANDRA HEADLAND QLD | 3.30PM *
Free show |Duo
TUES 15 NOV | HOUSE CONCERT, NAMBUCCA HEADS NSW | 7PM
Solo show | Tickets available from www.littlewise.com.au
THURS 17 NOV | PETERSHAM BOWLING CLUB, SYDNEY NSW | 7.30PM | 18+ *
Duo show |Tickets available from www.trybooking.com/NHYC | with special guest Alana Bruce
FRI 18 NOV | SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE, CANBERRA ACT | 7PM *
Duo Show |Tickets available from www.smithsalternative.com
SAT 19 NOV | COMMONGROUND FESTIVAL, SEYMOUR VIC | 12PM
Full Band Show | Tickets available from www.common-ground.org.au/tickets
THURS 24 NOV | THE BELLA UNION, MELBOURNE VIC | 7PM |18 +
Full Band Show | Tickets available from www.bellaunion.com.au | with special guests Gallie & John Flanagan Trio
FRI 25 NOV | MARTIANS CAFÉ, DEANS MARSH VIC | 7.30PM *
Full Band Show | Tickets available from www.martianscafe.com.au
SUN 27 NOV | THE WHEATSHEAF, ADELAIDE SA | 4PM *
Full Band Show | Tickets available from www.wheatsheafhotel.com.au
FRI 9 DEC | BASEMENT DISCS, MELBOURNE VIC | 12.45PM
Free show | Duo
SAT 10 DEC | BROOKFIELD SHED, MARGATE TAS | 8PM *
Full Band Show | Tickets available from www.arelmedia.com.au | with special guest Isla Ka
SUN 11 DEC | MARAKOOPA CAFÉ, MAYBERRY TAS | 2PM*
Full Band Show | Tickets available from www.marakoopacafe.com.au
* With special guest Rosie Burgess
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