Alt-country singer-songwriter Tori Forsyth today announces her third studio album All We Have Is Who We Are will be released on Friday May 3rd (through Island Records Australia) and shares another taste of what’s to come, with the release of a new single and video, ‘Good Enough’.
The long-awaited All We Have Is Who We Are LP will be available on DSPs, CD and in a limited edition “cherry red” (eco-Mix) Vinyl release.
It’s been a long road to All We Have Is Who We Are; an album that dives into the darkness, emerging out on the other side into the lightness and ready to embrace the future.
Tori shares, “This album was written at a time of understanding life a little better and a little more. It feels like a step forward for me. I feel lighter; this record feels lighter and more hopeful. It symbolises that it isn’t always easy to cast things as yes or no or beginning and end, that there is a grey zone in which most things exist. The water is murky, but we swim through it anyway. It’s a reconciliation with myself and a goodbye to a version of me that needed to die. The healing is in the living of life; the songs come from that experience. Being truly part of life, and how without that, there are no stories or songs. This record reflects that entirely and is the benchmark from which I will eternally create from.”
All We Have Is Who We Are was literally sculpted by nature, with Tori spending months living in a treehouse in country Queensland listening to country music and working on her parents’ horse stud. Whether it’s the immersive slow burner ‘Good Enough’ or the low-slung single, ‘Made Your Bed’, all 10 tracks on All We Have Is Who We Are are earthy and strong, with one singular intention: to follow what Tori loves, and to settle for nothing less.
“Returning to the family farm, it was the grounding I needed to be able to determine where I was going with who I am, what I actually wanted out of my life. It got me off the hamster wheel I was spinning. This record sums that up. Every record I have ever released is me, a version of me. This is where I am now and I couldn’t be more proud or more content. It just feels like home.”
New single ‘Good Enough’ is the most delicate and introspective moment on the upcoming album and it’s the song that digs deep into those feelings of being on the spinning wheel and feeling completely inadequate. Underscored by a ringing guitar and lilting harmonies enhanced by Australian country music legend Kasey Chambers, Tori explains about the track:
“Good Enough is simply about the raw emotion of isolation, unseen effort and feeling like you’re missing the mark. Whatever that mark might be. I felt like a little girl writing it because I think it’s something we can begin feeling at a very young age. I wanted it to be an innocent questioning of, when will I accept that I am good enough? Towards the end, the song has a bit of light, showing that we are the only ones who can truly measure what that is for ourselves; everyone else’s perception is irrelevant.”
To capture these emotions on film, the official video for ‘Good Enough’ was shot outdoors in one take, featuring only Tori. Director Bradley Mundane tells, “We had just shot two videos the day before and had to be up at sunrise to get the shot we needed. We had no idea what the weather was going to do and we picked a location the morning of based on the most available fog and lighting. It was really emotional for me shooting this clip. Tori and I have been collaborating for years and capturing this moment felt like Tori had finally found her voice. Proving she’s more than good enough and I’m so proud of her and the artist she’s becoming.”
All We Have Is Who We Are is produced by Scott Horscroft (Charlie Collins, Brooke McClymont & Adam Eckersley) and recorded at The Grove Studios, NSW with Tori’s full band of Reece Baines (drums), Matthew Newton (guitars) and Zachary Miller (bass). Joining Tori in the studio were the Mak Brothers, Thom (guitar) and Andy (keys), as well as on pedal steel guitar, multi-instrumentalist Jy-Perry Banks. The album includes debut single ‘Sometimes’ feat. Shane Nicholson – nominated recently for a Golden Guitar Award for Best Vocal Collaboration, earning Tori her fourth Golden Guitar nomination.
From Tori’s appearances at Gympie Muster, Groundwater Country Music Festival, BIGSOUND 2023 and her recent Jackson Dean support, there is a newfound freedom and lightness propelling from the Sunshine Coast artist, returning her back to the forefront of Australian country music.
In the coming months, Tori will be showcasing songs from her new album All We Have Is Who We Are at live shows across the country. Watch this space…