Review’s Isolation Room: Kasey Chambers debuts moving song written in lockdown
Filmed at her newly christened recording studio, the country artist shares an emotional song that ends on an optimistic note. | WATCH
While in lockdown at her home on the NSW central coast last year, country singer-songwriter Kasey Chambers was compelled to pen a song that captured the loss of human connection she was feeling at the time.
That sentiment has returned in recent months, and for Review’s exclusive Isolation Room video series, Chambers has chosen to debut her newest creation, titled We Are the Morning.
“There’s so many restrictions at the moment, and sometimes you just want to go and give someone you love a hug, and it’s really hard to not be able to do that – so in some ways I have the chance to say that through a song,” she told The Weekend Australian.
”There are other ways of connecting with people, and music is one of those ways,” she said. “Even though I sat in a room by myself and wrote that song, I certainly felt closer to people during it.”
Filmed at her newly christened recording studio, Rabbit Hole, Chambers is flanked by musical instruments hung on the wall, and she becomes emotional while singing an extended coda that ends the song on an optimistic note.
“Everything’s going to be all right,” she sings with that distinctive voice that has been part of the culture since the release of her ARIA Award-winning 1999 debut album, The Captain.
This hopeful message is as much for herself as it is for the rest of us, with an end to lockdowns in sight.
“I always get really teary when I sing this song,” she said. “It’s probably because I’m a creative, or a songwriter, but I feel like my emotions are always very close to the surface, and I try not to bury them very deeply.”
Her voice nearly breaks near the end of this performance, which was the first time she played it through for the camera. It’s a vulnerable moment that highlights the power of this deeply felt new work.
“There was something about the fact that it was so raw, and so exposed. I know it’s not perfect; my guitar’s quite out of tune by the end of it,” she said with a laugh. “But it doesn’t matter; it just had this beautiful, raw honesty about it, and that’s all I wanted: to share something like that for you.”
Chambers is among the performers at a newly announced all-female music festival, Wildflower, which will debut in March with three outdoor concerts in Victoria, Queensland and NSW. The country artist will play alongside Missy Higgins, Kate Miller-Heidke, Sarah Blasko and Deborah Conway, all of whom have appeared in the Isolation Room series.
Before then, Chambers has shows booked at the Sunset Sounds festival at the Hunter Valley and Mornington Peninsula in November, as well an appearance at the Tamworth Town Hall in January during the annual country music festival.
Her national theatre tour with Queensland acoustic pop duo Busby Marou, meanwhile, begins in Victoria in May.
With live gigs few and far between across the past two years, the lifelong musician is keenly awaiting her return to the stage.
“I smile when I open the fridge, because the light comes on, so I’m sure some of it’s ego,” she said with a laugh. “When I’m on stage, I feel so connected to people, and in such a vulnerable way. I feel free.”
To rewatch our Review’s Isolation Room archive, click here.
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