ILUKA Announces New Single Blue My Soul + Impending EP Tour Dates
Galloping ever closer to the release of her impending EP Blue My Soul (out Friday February 17), Sydney wayfarer ILUKA drops the empowering alt-folk title track as a single along with a free-spirited video and announces a whirlwind tour beginning in March.
Cathartic and ethereal, slow-burner ‘Blue My Soul‘ is a deeply personal exploration of femininity. There’s an undeniable strength in the song and its coven-esque video; and that power comes by way of vulnerability rather than in spite of it.
“I’ve always felt a lot. Often more than I‘ve known how to handle. We are taught not to feel, that being sensitive is a weakness in an overly masculine, production driven society. As a woman especially we are often criticised or ridiculed if we express ourselves in a way that is deemed inappropriate or unappealing. I wanted the video to challenge that and it kind of became this celebration of ‘woman’ in all her light and dark. In all her fullness of expression – the power, the vulnerability, the innocence, the fierceness, the raging intensity. There is no label adequate enough to define her. There is no ‘beauty’ magazine adequate enough to portray her. That is the feminine. Wholly and uniquely a mystery. And that is beautiful.” – ILUKA on the ‘Blue My Soul’ single and video
It’s only natural that a notion of emancipation through escape is the very heart of ILUKA’s upcoming EP Blue My Soul. The songs it houses are borderless, having seeded in a Buddhist Monastery in South East Asia, sprouted in India, and then finally blossomed in the expansive plains of America like rare desert flowers. Each has its own purpose in absolution, conjuring vivid landscapes and beckoning to the bohemian nomad soul that exists within us all. Blue My Soul is almost entirely self-produced and was tracked to tape as a live band at Sydney’s Linear Recording Studios. The result is a release that is simultaneously personal and empathetic in its rawness, joie de vivre and an “it’s the journey, not the destination” philosophy.
ILUKA’s laundry list of achievements seems to grow by the day. Her previous single ‘Blue Jean Baby‘ has seen triple j airplay and been put into rotation on Unearthed, ABC local radio, and Double J, as well as being added to various popular Spotify playlists like New Music Friday (AU & DE), New Music Buzz and This Week Sounds Like. There’s much to be said about ILUKA and her band’s gift for cultivating a carefree, energetic live show too – they’ve opened for respected international artists such as Kitty, Daisy & Lewis (UK), Bahamas (Can), and Allen Stone (US).
With a mammoth eight-stop tour set to kick off just as the fiery Australian sun loses its summer harshness in support of her Blue My Soul EP, there’s little doubt that 2017 looks to be ILUKA’s year.
ILUKA
BLUE MY SOUL EP TOUR
All tickets at ilukamusic.com
THU 16 MAR | THE PIER PORT, MACQUARIE NSW
FRI 17 MAR | MIAMI MARKETTA, GOLD COAST QLD
SAT 18 MAR | THE MILK FACTORY, BRISBANE QLD
THU 30 MAR | SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE, CANBERRA ACT
FRI 31 MAR | THE GASOMETER, MELBOURNE VIC
SAT 01 APR | THE WORKERS CLUB, GEELONG VIC
FRI 07 APR | RAD BAR, WOLLONGONG NSW
SAT 08 APR | HUDSON BALLROOM, SYDNEY NSW
PRAISE FOR ILUKA
[Blue Jean Baby] highlights ILUKA’s distinct vocal talents, which ricochet between gentle restraint and soaring power with casual aplomb. Underneath, snappy drum lines propel the track forward as warbly guitar licks and complementary instrumentation fills out the lush and enchanting soundscape.
– The Music
If you haven’t treated your ears to the incredible ILUKA yet, [we] implore you to do so.
– Purple Sneakers
I want to forever road trip to this song. And I’m talkin literally until I Thelma and Louise off a cliff because what could be better!
– Kick Kick Snare (US)
A ‘Lets Hit The Road’ kinda feeling is met when Blue Jean Baby comes on… Like you just wanna jump in your car, put on your favourite tunes, grab your best friends and head towards the next unknown adventure.
– Tuesday Vintage
FOLLOW ILUKA
AMNPLIFY – BA
