Almost five years after collecting best newcomer honors at the 2021 ARIA Awards, Budjerah will showcase his talents with a debut full-length album, Gentleman.
Produced by Om’Mas Keith (Frank Ocean), the collection is due out Friday, July 24 through Warner Music Australia, and via Warner Records in the United States, through a partnership struck in 2021 to break the soul-pop singer there.
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Gentleman is led by the recently-released track “Want You Back,” and the title track, which arrives today.
The album is “inspired by who I wanted to be when I was growing up,” explains the Australian singer and songwriter. “This album was almost a four-year process for me. Between my life at home and life on the road, I experienced so much change and growth. Chasing my dreams I faced new challenges which helped me understand who I wanted to be. Every song on this album holds a piece of me. I hope little Budjerah is proud.”
Budjerah (full name: Budjerah Julum Slabb) is no mystery to the Australian music community. The proud Coodjinburra man with the golden voice is one of the most promising artists in his homeland, with runs on the board to prove it.
Hailing from Fingal Head, New South Wales, Budjerah dropped his self-titled EP in 2021 and in the same year became the inaugural winner of the Michael Gudinski prize, during a lockdown edition of the ARIAs. The following year, he collected his first APRA Music Award for most performed R&B/soul work of the year for “Higher” with Matt Corby, and doubled up with the 2022 ARIA Award for best soul/R&B release.
On the live front, Budjerah supported Ed Sheeran on the Englishman’s 2023 stadium tour, and jumped on a remix of Sheeran’s “2step.” All told, Budjerah’s career streams top 60 million, all of it before the release of his debut album. In 2023, he signed with United Talent Agency (UTA) for representation in the Americas. National headline tours have followed.
Ahead of today’s album announcement, Budjerah presented the project Wednesday afternoon (March 18), the day after his birthday, with a showcase at Lazybones Lounge in Sydney’s inner-west suburb Marrickville.
Dan Rosen, president, Warner Music Australasia & Southeast Asia, made it official: we’re entering “the era of the Gentleman.” The album, he told industry guests, “is going to be a defining moment in Australian music. We first met Budjerah six years ago with a voice that stopped the nation, a once in a generation talent.” This is a “man who is finally stepping into his power and his full capacity as an artist.”
The 24-year-old artist went on to perform cuts from the forthcoming LP, including the Diane Warren-written closer “Even At My Worst,” and the 2023 single “Therapy,” which is platinum-certified in Australia and boasts almost 19 million streams on Spotify.
“Gentleman” was written by songwriters Autumn Rowe (Alexis Jordan, Kylie Minogue), Kizzo Keaz (Jon Batiste, Ne-Yo), and Philip Lawrence (Bruno Mars), and has a nostalgic kick. That was by design. “You have to be a gentleman and make sure your girl is treated right,” Budjerah explains of the new tune. “I grew up around a lot of old people, so I was influenced by the music they played as well as watching how they treated each other, and that is what this song is about.”
Check out the Gentleman tracklist below and pre-order here.
1. Gentleman
2. Want You Back
3. I Only Remember Your Name
4. Competition
5. Could I Be
6. Sinner
7. Pretty
8. Hard Time
9. Lonely
10. Let Me Know
11. Even At My Worst