Daily Dose: Tash Sultana, “Free Mind”

Daily Dose is your daily source for the song you absolutely, positively need to hear every day. Curated by the Paste Music Team.

We named Tash Sultana one of the Best of What’s Next in 2017, and now the Australian singer-songwriter’s first album is almost here. Flow State is due out Aug. 31 and follows the 2016 EP Notion.

“Free Mind” is the latest look into Sultana’s forthcoming record and follows two previous releases from it, “Salvation” and “Harvest Love.” “Free Mind” is also a peek into Sultana’s mind: “When will my mind be free from all the chains that hold me down,” the singer asks in a hushed voice. The dimensionality given to the chorus through the multiple layers of Sultana’s voice further tangles you in with Sultana’s thoughts, and the record is all Sultana—playing every one of the 15 instruments and sounds on Flow State, including saxophone and pan flute, in addition to writing and producing the whole record, Sultana has crafted an album that is by nature intimate. “Free Mind,” then, with its unusual phrasing and sparkling guitar, feels even closer to Sultana, who’s singing, “Why don’t you suffocate my dreams.” The song also pulls in interesting sensory experiences—focusing on scents with almost equal weight as visuals, mentioning cinnamon, honeysuckle and vanilla, Sultana shapes a full scene around you.

”’Free Mind’ was a song written over a couple of years,” Sultana said. “It was pretty much three different songs that I couldn’t figure out how to put together until one day when I was in the studio it kind of just fell into place.”

In this song Sultana seeks a free mind, but also finds musical liberation. A typical song from Sultana is longer than the 3:25 track that is “Free Mind”—every song on Notion is over four minutes, and a six-minute track isn’t out of character. Sultana said writing a song as short as “Free Mind” was “super challenging,” but that the song expressed everything it needed to say.

Listen to “Free Mind” below and find the tracklist for Flow State beneath that, plus Sultana’s tour dates further down. You can preorder Flow State here.

Flow State Tracklist:
01. Seed (Intro)
02. Big Smoke
03. Cigarettes
04. Murder to the Mind
05. Seven
06. Salvation
07. Pink Moon
08. Mellow Marmalade
09. Harvest Love
10. Mystik
11. Free Mind
12. Blackbird
13. Outro

Tash Sultana 2018 Tour Dates:

September
06 – Cologne, Germany @ E-Werk & Palladium Koln – SOLD OUT
07 – Cologne, Germany @ E-Werk & Palladium Koln – SOLD OUT
08 – Cologne, Germany @ E-Werk & Palladium Koln – SOLD OUT
10 – Berlin, Germany @ Columbiahalle – SOLD OUT
11 – Berlin, Germany @ Columbiahalle – SOLD OUT
15 – Amsterdam, Netherlands @ AFAS Live – SOLD OUT
16 – Amsterdam, Netherlands @ AFAS Live – SOLD OUT
20 – London, U.K. @ O2 Academy Brixton – SOLD OUT
21 – London, UK @ O2 Academy Brixton – SOLD OUT
22 – London, UK @ O2 Academy Brixton – SOLD OUT
25 – Paris, France @ L’Olympia – SOLD OUT
28 – Zurich, Switzerland @ Samsung Hall – SOLD OUT
29 – Milan, Italy @ Fabrique – SOLD OUT

October
07 – Melbourne, Australia @ Lost Picnic Melbourne
13 – Sydney, Australia @ Lost Picnic Syndey

November
01 – Vancouver, British Columbia @ Thunderbird Arena
03 – Edmonton, Alberta @ Shaw Conference Center
04 – Calgary, Alberta @ Grey Eagle Event Centre
06 – Winnipeg, Manitoba @ Burton Cummings Theatre
07 – St. Paul, Minn. @ Palace Theatre
10 – Detroit, Mich. @ The Fillmore
13 – Hamilton, Ontario @ FirstOntario Centre
14 – Laval, Quebec @ Place Bell
16 – Boston, Mass. @ House of Blues – SOLD OUT
17 – New York, N.Y. @ Terminal 5 – SOLD OUT
20 – Pittsburgh, Pa. @ Stage AE
21 – Washington, D.C. @ The Anthem
23 – Nashville, Tenn. @ War Memorial Auditorium
24 – Atlanta, Ga. @ The Tabernacle
26 – Kansas City, Mo. @ Arvest Bank Theatre at the Midland
27 – Denver, Colo. @ The Fillmore
29 – Oakland, Calif. @ Fox Theater

December
01 – Los Angeles, Calif. @ Shrine Expo Hall

January
02 – Tauranga, New Zealand @ Bay Dreams 2019
04 – Tauranga, New Zealand @ Bay Dreams 2019
12 – Woombye, Australia @ Big Pineapple Fields