Australian psych-folk favourite Leah Senior has unveiled her new single “Softly, Once Again” alongside a national tour announcement and details of her upcoming fifth studio album Pt. Roadknight, arriving June 19 via Third Eye Stimuli in Australia and SPINSTER in the USA.
The new track follows recent single “Mothersong”, which picked up praise from Rage, Raven Sings The Blues and Double J, with radio host Henry Wagons describing Senior as a “Baroque psych-folk mastermind”.
Leah Senior will hit the road from June 20, launching the Pt. Roadknight tour at Meeniyan Town Hall before heading across Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and the ACT. Other Victorian stops include The Tote, Deans Marsh, Warrnambool, Castlemaine and Beechworth, with Senior and her full band bringing the new record to life on stage.
Over the past decade, Senior has become one of Australia’s most distinctive folk voices, sharing stages with artists including Wilco, Iron & Wine, Jessica Pratt and King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard.
Written while living in a sandstone beach shack along a red dirt road in Anglesea, Pt. Roadknight explores isolation, creativity and the shifting pace of coastal life. The album leans into the baroque psych-folk sound that has defined Senior’s work while weaving in themes of modern disconnection, gentrification and introspection.
“Softly, Once Again” captures that balance between quiet reflection and public expectation. On the track, Senior sings: So many punk bands in this town / So little said, for all that sound / Should I hitch my wagon to the band / And shout it out as loud as I can / Or play it softly once again.
“This started off as a cheeky song picturing myself as a quaint folk lady in a world of rock”, explains Leah Senior. “I wrote this song in the middle of my last release when I was struggling with the pressure of needing to make noise about what I was doing and it became a kind of permission to do things softly.”
Instrumentally, the track expands into playful folk-pop territory with flute, horns and Beatles-inspired melodies layered across a live band recording session.
For tour dates, album pre-orders and more information, head to Leah Senior’s official website.
