Tash Sultana has always thrived on defying expectations.
From the streets of Melbourne to stages around the globe, the genre-blurring multi-instrumentalist has built a reputation for otherworldly live shows and a DIY work ethic that’s earned them fans across continents – and all without the backing of a major label.
But with their latest EP, Return to the Roots, Sultana isn’t chasing the next big moment. They’re chasing something far more elusive: truth.
“This is the best record yet,” Sultana says. “Not because it’s perfect, but because it’s real. No overthinking. No chasing. Just music, in its purest form.”
Released on May 28th, Return to the Roots is more than a title: it’s a manifesto, a declaration that after a decade in the game, Sultana is reclaiming the creative process, going back to the spontaneous, soul-deep jamming that first lit their spark.
“I just wanted it to sound live,” they say. “Dynamic, real… not hiding behind studio production tricks.”
The result is a six-track collection that’s emotionally unguarded and sonically untamed. From the hypnotic loops of “Milk & Honey” to the cathartic chaos of “Unleash the Rage”, the EP captures Sultana in motion: raw, reflective, and utterly uncompromising.
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“I think it’s a confidence thing, to be honest,” they explain, when asked why now was the right time to get this vulnerable. “Just as you get older, you land a little bit more on your feet as a human being. And scientifically, your brain develops too – so that’s nice, isn’t it?”
That maturity shows in every layer of Return to the Roots, not just in the musicianship but in the soul-bearing honesty of its lyrics. There’s no emotional veneer here, no attempt to gloss over the difficult stuff.
On “Hazard to Myself”, Sultana grapples openly with mental health and medication. “I hadn’t cried in a very long time,” they say of their time on Lexapro. “It made me totally mute to life… I didn’t feel sad, I didn’t feel happy, I didn’t feel present.”
And yet, that absence sparked introspection. “If I’m just really stable and I’m really happy, I’m probably not going to be in the studio,” they admit. “I just work better in chaos, really.”
That live-wire tension threads throughout the EP. “A lot of these songs were just top to bottom, stack the harmonies on after. All the solos I did on the guitar, I don’t even know how to play them again.”
For longtime fans who first discovered Sultana through their looper-driven bedroom jams, that rawness feels like a full-circle moment. “Milk & Honey”, written in just an hour, pulses with a reggae-rock groove and loop-layered magic that feels more jam session than studio cut.
“It was just, plug your shit in and jam,” they recall. “Less structured, less focused on delivering a ‘hit’. Less pressure to be anything other than the jam itself.”
One of the EP’s most gut-wrenching songs, “Hold On”, wasn’t originally meant to see the stage. Written for their wife following a shock cancer diagnosis last year, it became a lifeline – both for Sultana and, ultimately, for fans.
“We were like, ‘What the fuck do we do?’” they recall. “So we just decided to continue on as normal. I took it to the studio and that track just became born that way.”
It’s a moment of profound vulnerability – and one that Sultana may never perform live. “Probably not,” they admit. “It’s just too raw.”
That’s the tightrope they walk with Return to the Roots, balancing catharsis with exposure, pain with power; traipsing the fine line between telling the truth and exposing too much. “But I felt like everyone needed a big update,” they laugh.
The EP closes with “Ain’t It Kinda Funny”, a reimagined version of a song Sultana wrote at 15 and originally uploaded to triple j Unearthed as “Black Stone Soul”. The track now features Canadian alt-folk icon Dallas Green, aka City and Colour.
“I thought it would be really good to dig it out and revisit it,” Sultana says. “It’s kind of like a diary entry to each other. I’m telling the story from my perspective, and Dallas brings this whole other layer; he’s 20 years older, deep into his career.”
While Return to the Roots echoes the busking-era sound that catapulted Sultana into the spotlight, this isn’t about reliving old glory. It’s about taking ownership of a narrative that media – and the industry at large – often mishandled.
“There was a long part of my journey that wasn’t covered,” they assert. “Media were stuck in the past, and that really frustrated me. So I turned the camera back on.”
Each track is accompanied by a mini-doc and a live session filmed in their Lonely Lands Studio, mirroring the vibe of those early lounge room videos. “I wanted to be the first one to get the word in before the campaign started,” they explain. “To be quite honest, no one else is doing what I’m doing.”
They’ve felt that disconnect most acutely at home. “The way I’ve been embraced overseas is totally different to how I’ve been embraced in Australia,” Sultana says. “Australians will fucking champion the living fuck out of an American artist, but not their own.”
Having broken through with the viral hit “Jungle”, Sultana knows what it’s like to be boxed in. “You have a big hit, and people pigeonhole you to it,” they say. “But it goes beyond fucking ‘Jungle’.”
When the mainstream wouldn’t let them in, Sultana built their own ecosystem with Lonely Lands Records, Lonely Lands Agency, Lonely Lands Studios. “I never fit in with rock, or soul, or folk, or hip-hop,” they say. “So I just focused on my own shit. And that’s how Lonely Lands started. No one wanted to take me in, so I built my own space. Now everyone wants to be part of it.”
That subculture – the loyal, grassroots community that has followed them from the street corner to the arena – is still growing. And Return to the Roots is a love letter to that community.
“Your audience doesn’t catch up as fast as you grow,” they reflect. “So you’ve got to keep telling your story, over and over.”
It’s also kept them fiercely independent. “It’s a grind. We grind, grind, grind. Because your success isn’t promised. And there’s always a new kid on the block.”
That uncompromising work ethic is something they’re proud of. “I wake up same time every day. Health-focused. No drinking, no drugs, no shit food. I treat myself like an athlete.”
Still, they’ve never forgotten where it all started. “I’ve been really good at turning pennies into pounds,” they laugh. “I was pulling in three grand a day on the street, busking with coins. And that paid for my career.”
Despite its retrospective lens, Return to the Roots is just the beginning.
“This is part one of a huge project,” Sultana reveals. “I’m already recording the album. This is the entrée.”
Bigger stages in the UK and Europe await, and Sultana is eyeing an arena run back home in Australia. But no matter how large the rooms get, the goal remains the same: keep it real.
“You’re not going to write the same song twice,” they say. “You shouldn’t write the same song twice.”
And maybe that’s the magic of Return to the Roots. It’s not about going back. It’s about remembering who you are – and taking that forward with fearless clarity.
As Sultana puts it, “I honestly think I’m putting out the best music I’ve put out in a very long time. I’ve landed in a place that maybe evaded me for a while. But we’ve kind of circled back around.”
Tash Sultana’s Return to the Roots is out now.
