Emily Barker is an award-winning Australian singer-songwriter. She found early success as the writer and performer of the theme to the hugely successful BBC/PBS Masterpiece crime drama Wallander starring Kenneth Branagh and has since gone on to forge an acclaimed catalogue of releases, leading The Guardian to say “Emily Barker has a gift for great melodies”.
Barker’s latest album, Fragile as Humans, was produced at storied English studio The Wool Hall by Luke Potashnick (Gabrielle Aplin, Jack Savoretti, Alberta Cross). It's her first album for nearly four years, following A Dark Murmuration of Words, which Uncut called “…a kind of Australian equivalent of PJ Harvey’s Let England Shake” and which NPR’s Ann Powers acclaimed as “One of the most literate and probing folk albums of the year.”
Barker has released music and toured as a solo artist as well as with various bands and collaborations - most notably her long associations with Mary Chapin Carpenter and Frank Turner - and has written for TV and film, including composing the soundtrack for Jake Gavin’s lauded debut feature Hector starring Peter Mullan and Keith Allen.
Praise for Fragile as Humans:
“Barker’s writing has never been so pin sharp” —MOJO ★★★★
"tender and deep" —Ann Powers (NPR)
"truly exquisite" —Full Pelt Music ★★★★
"an overflow of talent" —The Arts Desk
"elegance, style and adventure" —Americana UK (8/10)
"a captivating tapestry of melodies and emotions" —Musikepool
Praise for A Dark Murmuration of Words:
“One of the most literate and probing folk albums of the year. I really love it.” Ann Powers, NPR Music
“an album of spare, striking beauty” Mojo ★★★★
“…a kind of Australian equivalent of PJ Harvey’s Let England Shake” UNCUT 8/10
“bold, direct, uncompromising” CLASH
“a high-class piece of songwriting and beautifully expressed musicianship” Americana UK 9/10
“irresistibly catchy…an album replete with nooks and crannies, light and shade” The Australian ★★★★★
“an album full of grace and danger” RnR ★★★★★
