Tash Sultana has released new single and video Something In The Water, marking their first new music since signing a global recording agreement with BMG earlier this year.
by Paul Cashmere
Tash Sultana has released Something In The Water, their first single since signing a global recording deal with BMG. The Melbourne-born multi-instrumentalist, producer and engineer released the song on Friday, September 18, with its accompanying video following at 2pm AEST. The release begins a new phase for Sultana after a period they describe as the most difficult five years of their personal and professional life.
Something In The Water is built around the elements that have defined Sultana’s music since their emergence from Melbourne’s busking scene: guitar, looping, layered instrumentation and a vocal performance that shifts between restrained passages and greater intensity.
For Sultana, however, the song represents more than a return to a familiar musical approach. They describe it as a process of leaving behind relationships, expectations and previous versions of themselves while reassessing the direction of their career.
“For a little while, I lost my way,” Sultana says. “I had to step back, strip everything away and find the road home to myself.”
Sultana says their life changed substantially over the past year and a half, prompting them to reconsider “the image of who I thought I had to be” and “the direction I thought my career should take”. Something In The Water reflects that transition, with the artist describing the recording as a way of releasing the past and moving towards what comes next.
The video takes a similarly personal approach. Its concept is based on a numerology reading Sultana received a decade ago, which they say made a lasting impression after predictions from the reading subsequently appeared to correspond with events in their life.
Four cards form the narrative structure of the video: The Avalanche represents the past, The Climb the present, The Summit the next stage and Dominance the ultimate ambition. Different versions of Sultana’s personality are used to represent the four stages.
“Ten years ago, a numerologist gave me a prediction of my future that turned out to be eerily accurate,” Sultana says. “It stuck with me and became a pivotal point in how I understood myself and the energy around me.”
The new recording continues Sultana’s preference for making music through physical performance and instrumentation. They have described the new era as deliberately human and anti-artificial, with the recordings built from real instruments and performances rather than relying on artificial processes.
That approach is consistent with the working methods that established Sultana internationally. Their career developed through solo performances combining live looping with guitar, vocals and a range of other instruments, creating arrangements in real time that could reproduce the density of a full band with one performer.
Sultana first gained major international attention in 2016 when a home performance of Jungle spread rapidly online. The song subsequently reached number three in Triple J’s Hottest 100 of 2016, while the Notion EP reached number eight on the ARIA Albums Chart.
The following year brought further Hottest 100 recognition, with Mystik, Murder To The Mind and Sultana’s Like A Version performance of MGMT’s Electric Feel all making the countdown.
The momentum led to the release of Flow State in 2018. The album reached number two on the ARIA Albums Chart and earned Sultana an ARIA Award for Best Blues and Roots Album. Flow State established a recorded counterpart to the solo performance style that had already become central to Sultana’s international identity.
Sultana followed it with Terra Firma in 2021, taking full control of the album’s recording process as performer, producer, arranger and engineer. The project produced the singles Pretty Lady, Greed, Beyond The Pine, Willow Tree and Sweet & Dandy.
Further releases included the Sugar EP in 2023 and Return To The Roots in 2025. Milk & Honey, released in 2025, was Sultana’s first single following the Sugar EP and was nominated for Most Performed Blues & Roots Work at the 2026 APRA Music Awards.
The BMG agreement represents a significant change in the business structure surrounding Sultana’s recordings after a decade of predominantly independent activity. The partnership covers future recordings as well as Sultana’s recorded catalogue, providing a global label infrastructure for the next stage of the career.
Sultana’s international touring history includes headline performances across Australia, New Zealand, Europe, the United Kingdom and North America. Their live career has included a sold-out Red Rocks Amphitheatre performance, where 10,000 tickets were reported to have sold within five minutes, alongside major festival appearances and arena performances.
Something In The Water now provides the first indication of the music Sultana is developing under the new BMG partnership. The song’s emphasis on performance, instrumentation and personal reflection also connects the new chapter directly with the methods that established Sultana’s audience in the first place.
The next scheduled live dates are Sultana’s rescheduled United Kingdom and European arena shows in March 2027.
Tour Dates
March 11, Dublin, Ireland, 3Arena
March 13, London, UK, OVO Arena Wembley
March 15, Cologne, Germany, Lanxess Arena
March 16, Antwerp, Belgium, Lotto Arena
March 18, Hamburg, Germany, Barclays Arena
March 19, Berlin, Germany, Velodrom
March 21, Stuttgart, Germany, Porsche-Arena
March 22, Munich, Germany, Olympiahalle
March 23, Vienna, Austria, Stadthalle
March 25, Frankfurt, Germany, Festhalle
March 26, Amsterdam, Netherlands, Ziggo Dome
March 29, Paris, France, Adidas Arena
March 31, Madrid, Spain, Movistar Arena
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