Naarm/Melbourne-based soul artist and proud Noongar woman Bumpy (she/her) is thrilled to unveil her long-awaited debut album Kanana. Translating from Noongar as “Land Where the Sun sets” – an unintentional full circle moment from her debut EP Morning Sun (2023) – Kanana embodies connection in all its forms, and saw Bumpy return to Noongar Boodja [Country] with her mother to connect with country, engage further in her family’s language journey and trace the footsteps of her family and Elders, including her late Nan (and namesake) Rose Whitehurst who wrote the first Noongar dictionary. Featuring a number of tracks that were developed as part of Bumpy’s involvement as First Nations Artist in Residence with the Melbourne International Jazz Festival and Australian Art Orchestra – works that developed into her acclaimed show, Tooni – Kanana is out everywhere now via Astral People Recordings.
Kanana is an album that captures Bumpy’s masterful ability to use light and shade to highlight a broad spectrum of emotion through her music, and an experience of the myriad influences that have informed her process. It tells stories of land, waters and skies, from album opener ‘River Skies’ – a dreamtime story and Acknowledgement of Wurundjeri Country, where the album was created and also where Bumpy has called home for the last 10 years – title-track ‘Kanana’, ‘Maambakoort’ (translating to “ocean” from Noongar), on which she narrates the way she felt when entering the saltwater on her Country, and detailing that return to Country on ‘Untangling’. Pieced throughout the album too is mantra and advice from her Nan (‘Lessons’) as one of the many Matriarchs in Bumpy’s family that help her stand strong in her Blak power (‘Nan’s The Word’), navigating spaces as Black women while she, and a lot of her community, were feeling the weight following the Indigenous Voice to Parliament (‘Pressure’), and all important reminders to slow down, be present, and stay firmly in your body throughout seasons high and low (‘Feel Good’, ‘Cosy Comfy’).
The community and connection on Kanana encapsulates Bumpy’s family, whose presence is felt throughout the record. While her siblings Emmy Yarram, Ben Yarram and Daniel Dowd provided vocals – with Ben’s co-writes and masterful instrumentation and rhythms throughout – and her mother remained connected to the entire process. Kanana has become much more than ‘just’ an album for Bumpy and her family, especially after reflecting on the legacy of their late Nan Rose Whitehurst in recent years, and how to preserve that legacy for themselves and for future generations. As well, both Kanana and Bumpy’s practice as an artist are underpinned by her music community, including her long-standing band made up of Mick Power – who co-wrote a lot of its songs – Noah Hutchinson, Jake Amy, Isadora Lauritz, Emma Volard and Ben Yarram, and the expansive 14-piece ‘Bumpy Choir’ that feature across the album: Emma Donovan, Emma Volard, Nitida (Don’t Thank Me, Spank Me!), Honey Tripper, Betty France, Olive Yaah, Isadora, Isobel Caldwell, Oscar France, Mitchell Rubly, and Bumpy’s siblings. They all swirled together along with GRAMMY-nominated engineer and producer Nick Herrera (Hiatus Kaiyote, Emma Donovan & The Putbacks, Nai Palm) an “incredible collaborator” who championed the lush, considered textures you’ll hear across the album.
Bumpy shares, “I always want to make sure I am doing what I can to uplift community and work in ways that creatively nourish the people around us. Cross-disciplinary collaboration has been such a fun exploration during this album – learning more about production from Nick Herrera, dreaming up designs and concepts with Tamara (Remuse Designs), creating visual worlds with Emily Dynes, working closely with Mick Power on arrangements and pushing my co-writing skills, writing and creating my own choir full of my family and community, all of it has been really inspiring and has felt like the album has come to life in all kinds of ways. Often our stories are misinterpreted or told without us and I wanted to ensure the safety of my stories and be a part of the full process in bringing this album to life.”
Going by her childhood nickname – earned for a habit of bumping into all kinds of obstacles – Bumpy has a voice that ripples stars, and finds her strength in tenderness, scars and all. Bumpy is also the lead vocalist in Naarm/Melbourne neo-soul outfit Squid Nebula, and alongside her sister Emmy presents the radio show Pebbles each Sunday afternoon on Triple R.