Australian singer, songwriter, actor and author Dan Sultan dropped his debut solo album Homemade Biscuits in 2006 at the age of twenty-two, the album which introduced the world to his rich voice, story-filled lyrics and ear for a hook. His second album, Get Out While You Can followed in 2009, and saw him win Best Male Artist and Best Blues And Roots Album at the 2010 ARIA Music Awards. In 2014, he followed that success by claiming Best Rock Album for his third studio album Blackbird, while his 2017 album Killer was nominated for three ARIA awards: Best Male Artist, Best Rock Album, and Best Independent Release. 

Killer featured the song Drover, a track which perfectly demonstrates Sultan’s storytelling ability. It’s a song told from the perspective of an indigenous drover during a protest by workers in 1966 over poor working conditions in the Northern Territory which became known as the Wave Hill walk-off. “It’s about the lead-up to the walk-off, about what it was like on the ground before the protest really kicked off,” Sultan explains on his official website. “The drover in the song has heard murmurs of a walk-off, murmurs of, ‘We’re going to protest and stand up for our land and stand up for our people’. I found it really interesting to write in that way. You know, as a writer, I think empathy is essential.”

Sultan then took the decision to release a children’s album in 2019. Named Nali And Friends, it was another success, winning Best Children’s Album at the 2019 ARIA Awards. However, he is now back to working on the sort of classic, intense folk rock songs that first brought him to the public’s attention, at least if new song Tarred And Feathered is anything to go by. Built around a gentle acoustic guitar, Sultan’s voice sounds as good as it ever has on the track. 

Writing on his official Facebook page, Sultan said: “Tarred And Feathered is the only song I wrote in 2020. A year in which, like many, I found huge comfort and salvation in the things that truly matter and the things that frankly, actually exist. It’s about my beautiful family and I and our immense strength and resolve not only to get through such a difficult time, but to be even stronger and more in love in spite of it. 2020 was a year that true love and friendship came sharply into focus and for that I am thankful.”

Listen to Tarred And Feathered here.

Find out more about Dan Sultan on his official website. 

Author: Joe Sharratt

Joe Sharratt is a writer and journalist based in the UK covering music, literature, sport, and travel.