Australia’s Tori Forsyth has returned this week with her fourth studio album, Self Preservation.
Recorded over two weeks at Grove Studios and written entirely on her own, the Victorian-born singer-songwriter’s latest record is described as her most confident and vulnerable to date.
To celebrate the album’s release, Forsyth took us behind the scenes on the making of Self Preservation.
—
Self Preservation was made in July 2025 during a pretty chaotic period of my life. There was a lot happening outside the studio in my personal life.
The studio became the place where I could disappear into something again. These photos are little pieces of what those weeks actually looked like:
I’m Not God collage
Love Music?
Get your daily dose of everything happening in Australian/New Zealand music and globally.
Edited with Afterlight
I made a collage for every song using lyrics from the record, basically scrapbooking the whole thing while we were making it. This one is from the chorus of I’m Not God.
That song is really about self-belief, but also knowing where I sit spiritually. I can believe in myself, back myself and trust my instincts without pretending I’m in control of everything.
The couch
This couch was basically my station for the record. I spent a lot of time sitting here watching everything come together, listening back and soaking it all in.
I was probably in a bit of pain here. I was still dealing with injuries from my car accident in 2024 and had just come off my first US tour straight into recording, so physically I was pretty cooked. But I was so absorbed in what we were making that I just wanted to be in the room for all of it.
Matt + the unicorn slipper
That’s Matt at the console laying guitar parts while I contribute something equally important to the record, which is giant unicorn slippers.
The slippers were just a little piece of home for me in the studio. I’m actually pretty dorky and have a lot of ’90s TV memorabilia and things from my childhood around me at home, so naturally, some of that energy made its way into the studio too.
Matt doing actual music things, me in the foreground looking like I’ve wandered in from a sleepover.
Chloe
This is Chloe, the local studio cutie patootie. I love animals, so having a studio dog around was essential.
I was listening back to a take here, with Chloe doing her very important job of keeping me company.
Scott Horscroft
This is me and my producer, Scott Horscroft, at the end of recording.
Scott is an absolute legend. His belief in me and in these songs came at a point where I really needed someone else to see what I was trying to make, even when I was still finding my feet with it myself.
I’ll always be really grateful for the way he backed the songs, pushed them and helped bring the record to life.
Claudia + Matt
This is Claudia from Island Records, Matt Newton (guitarist) and me. Claudia came in to visit while we were recording and, if I remember correctly, we were working on vocals that day.
It was really lovely having her there. Making a record can become such a little bubble, so having someone from the label come in, hear what we were making and be part of the day was really nice.
