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Award-winning Aussie Americana artist HELEN TOWNSEND asks ‘Is This Love’ with new single!

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Australian Americana artist Helen Townsend is that rare artist who can make large venues feel like lounge rooms. Get comfy and lean into her richly lyrical songs, get up and dance, sing along because she’s singing about you, fall in love with the stagecraft — whatever your desire, it’s all good because it’s just you and Helen. When the lights go up no one will ever know.

Townsend’s new single, ‘Is This Love’, asks the age-old question, the one we’ve all wanted answered sometime or another. Dressed up in irresistible honky tonk blues, ‘Is This Love’ is an instant dance-floor filler and the first leg of a musical oeuvre that has Townsend at the peak of her powers and will have audiences beaming and calling out for more.

Helen Townsend may have been late in picking up the tools of her trade but in a short time she has shown herself to be a master craftsman in a field too often crowded with cowboy-booted jacks and jills of all trades. Her sweet voice and tender picking rubs against songs that are filled with characters living with the costly results of impulsive choices and memories that just won’t let go. Her music takes you on a journey through beautiful valleys, coastal plains and soaring over mountains with a few deep, dark tunnels to keep you grounded.

She has carved out a reputation for edgy Americana music – one that has pushed the genre’s boundaries from roots-rock through blues and country to folk – with her upcoming album, Helen has broadened her style and flair even more so with catchy new melodies, tight harmonies and personal stories and lyrics that hook into your heart and tear up your soul. The new album builds from her previous 2 EP’s and her debut album, which scored her multiple awards and nominations including winner of WA Country Music Award for Best Emerging Artist and Song of the year.

Townsend has continued to extend her musical influence with her recent US shows and was part of the Sounds Australia Showcase at the coveted Americanafest in Nashville.  All this on top of the US launch of her EP “Love, Lies ‘n’ Leaving” which found its way into the FAI top 10 Folk albums chart in the US for September 2022 has increased Helens popularity in Australia and abroad.

With ‘Is This Love’, Townsend is making her first exploration into UK territory, with plans for a UK tour and new album release to come next year. The video for the single is pure Americana nostalgia with Townsend and band arriving via a classic car to tear things up at a swinging rock ‘n’ roll bar. Through out it, we see Townsend question ‘Is This Love’ with her partner and fellow Australian musician Shannon Smith, as they share a dance, cocktails and eventually make plans to meet again. Much of Townsend’s forthcoming new album has been inspired by her new relationship with Shannon Smith, who has also channelled their love for each other in his own upcoming music project, both albums being written respectively from their different sides of the relationship, as these two musicians forged their bond.

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Award-Winning Artist Sandra Sutter Releases Poignant New Single “Sunshine Child”

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A heartfelt tribute to the tender balance of love and letting go

Acclaimed recording artist, songwriter, and filmmaker Sandra Sutter returns with a deeply personal and emotionally resonant new single, “Sunshine Child,” out now on all major streaming platforms. The track is a moving reflection on the universal challenge of watching a beloved young person grow, change, and begin their own journey toward independence.

Inspired in part by a friend’s bittersweet experience of their child growing up and moving beyond the protective reach of their parent, “Sunshine Child” is a beautifully crafted song that captures both the vulnerability and strength of unconditional love.

“It’s a song about the fierce love we have for children in our lives—how we want to shelter them, protect them, hold on,” says Sutter. “But ultimately, we have to let them go, to make their own mistakes, to live their own lives. It’s about learning to love selflessly and trusting the process.”

In a swirl of poetic imagery, Sutter envisions the parent-child bond like a dancer—dressed in every color of the rainbow—spinning in circles, sometimes lost to each other, but always tied together by the invisible thread of love. The song serves as both a gentle caution to overprotective adults and a warm reminder to young people to care for themselves and recognize the light they carry within.

“Sunshine Child” follows Sutter’s extensive and award-winning career in music, film, and poetry. A proud Métis woman, Sandra’s work spans genres and artistic disciplines, often focusing on themes of truth, reconciliation, and cultural empowerment. Her critically acclaimed projects include the 2022 short film A Woman’s Voice, which received over 40 festival selections and 27 awards, and the reconciliation-themed albums Cluster Stars and Aurora: 12 Songs for the Season.

Sandra’s voice and songwriting have earned her numerous accolades including:

Best Folk & Best Spiritual, Indigenous Superstars Music Awards (2022)

Best Métis Artist/Group of the Year, Summer Solstice Indigenous Music Awards (2021)

Best Americana Recording, Native American Music Awards (2018)

Now back on the road with music partner Rob Ing and her band JuSTuS, Sandra is preparing to release her anticipated Indigi-folk jazz fusion album Shadow Stories this summer. “Sunshine Child” offers an early glimpse into the emotional depth and artistry audiences can expect from the new record.

“This song is a love letter to every child, a reminder that they are beautiful, magical, and deeply loved,” says Sutter. “May they always feel the warmth of the love that surrounds them, even as they step into their own future.”

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