“One of my intentions was to create something that really reflected the essence of the band live,” Fanny Lumsden tells Apple Music of her fifth studio album. “Each song is one take—we’d play it three times or something, and then we’d listen back and just choose the best one. I didn’t obsess over making it perfect. I just accepted there are flaws.” Thematically, Traditions finds the country singer-songwriter searching for balance between her own independently formed beliefs and the traditions with which she was raised, particularly when the two don’t align. “The older you get, the more you can see the nuance in it all, and the more I’ve accepted that you can celebrate these things and understand they’re flawed, and that’s fine. I couldn’t have made this record when I was younger, because I just didn’t have the grasp on who I am and what I believe, and how things can exist at the same time.” Here, Lumsden unpacks the themes of Traditions, track by track. “Prelude” “I wanted to capture traditions from my life. My family are Australian farming families, but they all came from Scotland. The pipes you hear in the start, they’re from my grandma’s funeral, and it’s my two cousins [playing] as we were burying her. Also, everyone learns classical piano in my family—it’s a tradition! And that’s a sample of me playing. There’s also the atmosphere from a country hall, which is a huge part of my childhood, my career, who I am.” “Traditions” “I think I’d rejected the rural woman in me as something that I didn’t think was ambitious. It’s basically me trying to marry my autonomy, ambition, and my farming family traditions.” “Mother’s Eyes” “This one is me accepting that I don’t have to fixate over beauty standards or choices, even though I’m in an industry that insists that I do. I look at my grandpa’s eyes and he has these amazing wrinkles and they’re so beautiful. They’re because of a life lived and smiled and from squinting in the sun as a farmer. My mum has the same ones and I have them, too. It was just me wanting to be like, ‘That’s enough.’” “Chest First” “Growing up, we’d go camping on the Murrumbidgee River every year over the summer. Every milestone birthday I’ve had has been at the river. When you’re there you just forget about all the anxieties and all the shit in your head and you live in that moment. Sometimes, it’s just as simple as that.” “Salt of the Earth” “I cried my eyes out when I wrote it. My dad has Parkinson’s, and I don’t ever want him to feel like he failed us in any way, because he’s so passionate about the bush and he’s so passionate about understanding and respecting the land. He really wanted to instill that in us. I just want him to know that he did.” “God or the Stars” “When we were little, we lived out at Toowoomba on a farm, and it was really hot, so we used to sleep under the stars in summer, just to stay cool. I remember looking up at the stars and feeling how tiny I was, and realizing that I get to choose what I believe in. Whatever gets you through, gets you through.” “By the River” (feat. Paul Kelly) “I went to the Peak District hiking, and as I was walking, that chorus and first verse came out. [Producer] Steven Schram was like, ‘I reckon Paul should sing on this song, ask him.’ Steven and Paul recorded his part and they sent it over. I’d had a really stressful day, and I remember getting that mix and I bawled my eyes out. Paul Kelly’s singing my words.” “Car Crash” “I’ve had three moments in my life that starkly demonstrate how a moment can be the difference between life and death. One was a car accident when I was 19; one involved a bus, a car door, and my dad; and one involved a chance moment of phone service, someone running late, and a life saved. This song is about that.” “Summer Mountain Moon” “It’s my first love song for Dan [Freeman, husband and bandmate]. The details are so niche. It kind of feels like our life. We’re always going 130 kmh, doing a million things at once. I feel like this encapsulates that really well.” “Sweet Hurt” “I sent my grandpa a song from one of my records and he sent me this email back. At the end, he was like, ‘We all love you so much increasingly that it has a sweet hurt to it.’ I just loved the idea that love has a sweet hurt to it. Also, I am obsessed with where I live. It’s so beautiful. I’m always like, ‘Surely something has to go wrong, it can’t just look like this.’ It has a sweet hurt to it. It’s just another way of [saying] happy-sad.” “Monsters and Magpies” “I remember realizing a couple of years ago when my kids were babies, and my dad’s Parkinson’s hadn’t got so bad, that this was a very incredible moment in time. My parents are both relatively healthy, they live down the road. My kids are little children. I live in this beautiful place. I was just like, ‘I think this is as good as it’s going to get.’ It was a very special moment, and I really wanted to grab that.” “Difficult Woman” “I’m self-managed, and I think a lot of people have trouble accepting that, and that I know what I’m talking about. I get told that I’m difficult a lot. But I was realizing that being difficult was actually just being clear, or just being right. Knowing what you want and being able to articulate that. I think the most amazing women are [difficult women]. I was like, ‘We need a song. I wanted people that felt difficult to feel like it wasn’t a problem—they just have big dreams, and they know how to get them.’”