Following a successful Parrtjima performance, 8CCC is featuring highly acclaimed Gumbaynggirr and Noongar artist Emma Donovan‘s powerful new album Take Me To The River this week. A deeply personal and culturally resonant body of work, the album sees Donovan reconnecting with memory and place, guided by the enduring presence of water as a source of healing, community, and spirit.
Take Me To The River is a covers album, a collection of soul classics that first inspired Donovan to sing. Drawing on the work of icons including Al Green, Ann Peebles, Aretha Franklin, and Mavis Staples, alongside the late Archie Roach, Donovan finds new meaning in songs that have long lived inside her.
Speaking on the album, Donovan shares: “These songs chose me as much as I chose them. The river has always been central to my life, it’s where we gathered, where we healed, where we sang. Taking these songs back to the water felt like the most natural thing in the world.”
The album’s focus track is a moving interpretation of “Wash My Soul In The River’s Flow”, originally written by the late Archie Roach. On the track, Donovan reflects: “There’s a reason people have been washing themselves in rivers since the beginning of time. It’s not just physical, it’s something older than that. When I sing this song I’m not performing it, I’m living it.”
Fans can secure a limited edition vinyl pressing of Take Me To The River, available now for pre-order via Civilians and Impressed Recordings.
Adding to an already landmark year, Donovan will take to the stage with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra this July during NAIDOC Week, bringing her catalogue into a bold new orchestral setting.[Amrap]