through blood, like kin

'through blood, like kin' by Ella Haber shines brightly like a lighthouse, illuminating the possibilities of who we could be and how we could live. Steeped in vulnerability and resolve, the Sydney-based Australian singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist explodes love into something more expansive than the fairytale narratives of nuclear romance we are confined to. Redrawing the boundaries of her heart, she finds herself revelling in the in-between; in the vast interconnected network of kin that holds us all, and in those connections that blur the boundaries we know. The result is a coming-of-age story spoken from her lips to our ears. Between delicate guitars, spare, hip-hugging rhythms and lush horns, strings and gospel-slanted group backing vocals, Haber sings in regal melodies and hushed, intimate observations, rendering deeply personal moments with the colour, detail and universal heft of a stained glass tableau. Created over five years on the unceded lands of the Gadigal, Wangal, Wurundjeri and Dharawal people with well-loved producer Yianni Adams and a powerhouse ensemble of Australian instrumentalists, 'through blood, like kin' confirms Haber’s status as one of Australia’s finest new generation songwriters. Opening with the delicate ambient soul sensibilities of the title track, 'through blood, like kin' unfurls into an antipodean melange of celestial jazz, folk, alternative soul and psychedelic R&B, locating Haber in the same traditions as Nina Simone, Joni Mitchell, Erykah Badu, Georgia Anne Muldrow, Sault, and Hiatus Kaiyote. On ‘don't let it die’, she reassesses her relationship with music, speaking honestly of the distortions that come from making art under capitalism and crying out to preserve the power of music for human storytelling. In the afterglow, she revisits bittersweet memories of loves past across ‘the day’ and ‘back of my eyes’, before returning to the profound, timeless connection she still feels with her childhood piano on ‘kawai’. Over the second half of the album, she asks the listener 'Where do we go from here?' on 'marrickville pause', revelling in the profound, often complex bonds that can be forged between creative collaborators. As she reflects on the rush of following someone incandescent from the dancefloor to the ends of the earth on ‘ecstasy’, the album hurtles towards its closing moment on ‘Interstice’. Emerging from these storied threads, Haber arrives at her final, fervent declaration: “Let me invent this love!” After releasing her debut EP, Clay, in 2019 through Soul Has No Tempo, the Meanjin/Brisbane label, which introduced Jordan Rakei, Tiana Khasi, and Miss Kaninna to the world, Haber performed at Gilles Peterson’s inaugural 'We Out Here' festival in Abbots Ripton, Cambridgeshire, before playing a headline showcase in London hosted by Jamz Supernova (BBC 1XTRA). Over the following years, she deepened her engagement in social and political activism and embarked on a PhD in Aboriginal Linguistics, all while sharing stages across Australia with Cymande, Alfa Mist, Emma-Jean Thackeray, Julien Dyne, Lord Echo (Aotearoa), Surprise Chef, Ngaiire, and CINTA. Ella released her second EP, 'Moments Between Dreams' in 2024 through Soul Has No Tempo. 'through blood, like kin' is Haber’s debut album and her first release through Planet Trip Records. Fittingly, it represents the beginning of a new phase. Having read the room, she has made the decision with us to step away from streaming for this release, embodying our shared ethos around community, connection, and readdressing the rapidly degrading value of art.