Thelma Plum Announces Debut Album ‘Better In Blak’, National Tour Dates & Shares Moving New Video

May 29, 2019

Thelma Plum has announced her debut album Better In Blak, premiering a new music video for its title track.

Powerful and catchy in equal measure, ‘Better In Blak’ details Plum’s experience of harassment and dismissal as an Indigenous woman in Australia, and Plum’s refusal to let her identity be erased. “Fuck that / I look better in blak” sings Plum in the song’s chorus.

“I wrote ‘Better in Blak’ about my experiences with people trying to take the colour from the conversation,” Plum has commented on the track.

“My colour is an important part of who I am, and over the last couple of years I’ve had people try and tell me ‘it’s not about colour’ when obviously to me it is.”

The music video for ‘Better In Blak’ was directed by collaborator Claudia Sangiorgi Dalimore, and features Plum’s two sisters – the first time the three had all been in one room together.

As Plum told The FADER, “I worked with some amazing women to create this and it was great to have Indigenous women that I look up to (that I have for some time) involved in the video.”

“My sister was adopted when she was young. We’ve all hung out individually but we all live in different cities, so this was the first time we were all in one room together and I will never forget how special that felt.”

Plum’s debut album Better In Blak is set for release on Friday July 12th. Her first release since 2014 EP Monsters, the album features collaborations with some huge names, including Paul Kelly, Gang of Youths‘ Dave Le’Aupepe and, reportedly, Sir Paul McCartney. According to The FADER, McCartney wrote guitar parts for the track ‘Made For You’ while visiting the New York studio where Plum was recording the record.

“This album reflects some pretty dark times in my life but these songs kind of helped pull me out of it, it’s cathartic in a weird way,” says Plum of the album.

“I’m excited for people to hear these songs but some of them come from grim places, so it’s a bit daunting having them see the light of day. There’s some funny stuff on there, too, it’s not all doom and gloom!”

Plum has also announced a national headline tour in support of Better In Blak, taking in most of the country this August.

Watch the video for ‘Better In Blak’ below. You can pre-order the album, Better In Blak, here. See the album’s tracklist below, along with tour dates.

‘Better In Blak’ Tracklist

Clumsy Love
Dont Let a Good Girl Down
Love and War (feat David LeAupepe)
Not Angry Anymore
Homecoming Queen
Better in Blak
Woke Blokes
Nick Cave
Thulumaay Gii
Ugly
Do You Ever Get So Sad You Can’t Breathe
Made for You