“I Am The River, The River Is Me” , Jen Cloher’s fifth album, is verdant and rich; it luxuriates in stillness, and carries itself with cool, unfussy confidence. It suggests that home is not found in a place or a politic, but in the community you keep: Inspired by Cloher’s powerful matrilineal line of wāhine Māori, “I Am The River, The River Is Me” is not urgent, or hurried, but it is vital, made with the care and ease of someone who knows that their past began before birth, and will continue long after they’re gone.
Jen Cloher’s new album “I Am The River, The River Is Me” is out in March, and the latest single is the anthemic “Being Human.” Out of all the songs on the album, this is the one Cloher said they were the “most nervous about” releasing. ““It’s earnest and basic and raw,” they said. “Reclaiming your culture is an awkward and messy business. I can see why so many people shy away from it. When you’re not living on your own lands, you have to seek it out and find the people who can support you.”
Jen Cloher (Ngāpuhi & Ngāti Kahu) is a songwriter and performer living on unceded Wurundjeri land in Naarm. Cloher’s taut, terse brand of rock is charged with static tension. Admirers have naturally gravitated towards Cloher’s incisive, generous songwriting. Over the course of five albums, they have won a J Award and an AIR Award and been nominated for an ARIA and the Australian Music Prize.
Recorded between Aotearoa (NZ) and Naarm (Melbourne) with producers Tom Healy (Tiny Ruins, Marlon Williams), Anika Ostendorf (Hachiku) and Cloher’s longtime drummer Jen Sholakis; the album brings in trailblazing artists including Emma Donovan (Gumbaynggirr, Yamatji), Kylie Auldist, Liz Stringer, Te Kaahu (Waikato-Tainui, Ngāti Tīpā), Ruby Solly (Kai Tahu, Waitaha, Kāti Māmoe) and members of the Naarm-based Kapa Haka, Te Hononga o ngā Iwi. The entire record feels communal — a celebration not just of Cloher, but of the rich, life-filled communities that surround them.
releases March 3rd, 2023
The Fat Angel Sings 