Thelma Plum | |
---|---|
![]() Thelma Plum performing in April 2023 | |
Background information | |
Birth name | Thelma Amelina Plumbe |
Born | Brisbane, Queensland, Australia | 21 December 1994
Origin | Delungra, New South Wales, Australia |
Genres | Folk [1] |
Occupation(s) |
|
Instruments |
|
Years active | 2012–present |
Labels |
|
Website | thelmaplum |
Thelma Amelina Plumbe (born 21 December 1994), known professionally as Thelma Plum, is an Aboriginal Australian singer, songwriter, guitarist and musician from Delungra, New South Wales. Her debut album, Better in Blak , was released on 30 July 2019 and peaked at number 4 on the ARIA Albums Chart.
Plum has received various accolades, including for Best Cover Art at the 2019 ARIA Music Awards for Dennis Pfitzner's artwork.
Thelma Amelina Plumbe [3] was born on 21 December 1994 [4] [ user-generated source ] in Brisbane. [5] She is a Gamilaraay woman [6] from Delungra, New South Wales. Plum graduated from the Music Industry College, Brisbane [7] and spent most of her early life in that city. [8]
In May 2012, Plum uploaded the tracks "Blackbird" and "Father Said" onto Triple J Unearthed and in July 2012, won the inaugural Triple J's National Indigenous Unearthed Music competition [6] and was nominated for a Deadly award for Most Promising New Talent. [9] "Father Said" was released in November 2012 as her official debut single. Plum released her debut extended play, Rosie, in March 2013 [10] and followed with her second EP, Monsters (July 2014). [11] [12] By that time she had relocated to Melbourne. [5]
Plum appeared at Womadelaide in 2014 and 2019, [13] has toured around Australia [11] and has been on rotation nationally on Triple J. [10] [14] [8]
Plum released her debut album, Better in Blak , in July 2019. [15] The video for the single, "Better in Blak", was nominated for Film Clip of the Year at the National Indigenous Music Awards. [16] [17] In October 2019 she came at No. 7 in Happy Mag's list of "The 15 Australian female artists changing the game right now." [18] At the ARIA Music Awards of 2019 she received six nominations and won Best Cover Art for Emilie Pfitzner's work on her album. [19]
The Better In Black album became a collection of anthems for Blak women. [20]
In January 2020, Plum became the highest ranking Indigenous artist ever in the Triple J Hottest 100, when "Better in Blak" charted at number 9. [21] Two months later, she was diagnosed with COVID-19 during the COVID-19 pandemic. [22]
In May 2020, Plum released a cover of Powderfinger's "These Days". [23] In October, she performed at the 2020 AFL Grand Final. [24]
In July 2022, Plum announced the forthcoming release of her third EP, Meanjin , alongside its second single "When It Rains It Pours". [25]
Meanjin, is Plum's "love letter" to Brisbane and was written on her balcony in lockdown due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. [20]
Plum's Meanjin EP won Album Of The Year at the 2023 National Indigenous Music Awards. [26]
In November 2022, Plum announced the forthcoming release of When Rosie Met Monsters, compiling the EPs Rosie and Monsters together on vinyl, CD and cassette. [27]
In November 2023, Plum released "We Don't Talk About It", the first new music in over twelve months. [28] Her second studio album I'm Sorry, Now Say It Back is scheduled for release in October 2024.
Title | Details | Peak chart positions | Certifications |
---|---|---|---|
AUS [29] | |||
Better in Blak |
| 4 | |
I'm Sorry, Now Say It Back |
| TBA |
Title | Details |
---|---|
When Rosie Met Monsters |
|
Title | Details | Peak chart positions |
---|---|---|
AUS [29] | ||
Rosie | — | |
Monsters | — | |
Meanjin |
| 28 |
Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
AUS [35] | NZ Hot [36] | ||||
"Father Said" [37] | 2012 | — | — | Rosie | |
"Around Here" [38] | 2013 | — | — | ||
"Dollar" [39] | — | — | |||
"How Much Does Your Love Cost" (original or Dugong Jr remix) [40] [41] | 2014 | — | — | Monsters | |
"Monsters" [42] | — | — | |||
"Young in Love" [43] | — | — | |||
"Any Other Name" (with Horrorshow, Jimblah, and Urthboy) [44] | 2015 | — | — | Non-album singles | |
"Clair de Lune" | 2018 | — | — | ||
"Clumsy Love" | — | — | Better in Blak | ||
"Not Angry Anymore" [46] | 2019 | — | — | ||
"Better in Blak" | 89 | — |
| ||
"Homecoming Queen" | — | — |
| ||
"These Days" [23] | 2020 | — | — |
| Non-album single |
"Backseat of My Mind" [47] | 2022 | — | 40 | Meanjin | |
"When It Rains It Pours" [25] | — | — | |||
"The Brown Snake" [48] | — | — | |||
"We Don't Talk About It" [28] | 2023 | — | — | I'm Sorry, Now Say It Back | |
"Nobody's Baby" [49] | 2024 | — | — | ||
"Freckles" [50] | — | — |
Title | Year | Album |
---|---|---|
"No One" (Golden Features featuring Thelma Plum) [51] | 2015 | XXIV |
"Ticket to Heaven" (Alice Ivy featuring Thelma Plum) [52] | 2020 | Don't Sleep |
"Go to War" (Briggs featuring Thelma Plum) [53] | 2020 | Always Was |
Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album |
---|---|---|---|
NZ Hot [54] | |||
"Don't Let a Good Girl Down" | 2019 | 35 | Better in Blak |
The APRA Awards are held in Australia and New Zealand by the Australasian Performing Right Association to recognise songwriting skills, sales and airplay performance by its members annually. Plum has been nominated for two awards.
Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
2020 | "Better in Blak" | APRA Song of the Year | Nominated | [55] [56] |
herself | Breakthrough Songwriter of the Year | Nominated | ||
2021 | herself | Breakthrough Songwriter of the Year | Nominated | [57] |
2023 | "Backseat of My Mind" | APRA Song of the Year | Shortlisted | [58] |
The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music. Thelma Plum won an award from six nominations in 2019.
Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
2019 | Emilie Pfitzner for Thelma Plum - Better in Blak | Best Cover Art | Won | [19] [59] [60] |
Claudia Sangiorgi Dalimore for Thelma Plum – "Better in Blak" | Best Video | Nominated | ||
Better in Blak | Album of the Year | Nominated | ||
Best Female Artist | Nominated | |||
Best Pop Release | Nominated | |||
Breakthrough Artist | Nominated | |||
2021 | Thelma Plum – Homecoming Queen Tour | Best Australian Live Act | Nominated | [61] |
2022 | Meanjin | Best Solo Artist | Nominated | [62] |
Best Pop Release | Nominated | |||
The Meanjin Tour | Best Australian Live Act | Nominated |
The Australian Music Prize (the AMP) is an annual award of $30,000 given to an Australian band or solo artist in recognition of the merit of an album released during the year of award.
Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
2019 | Better in Blak | Album of the Year | Nominated | [63] |
The Australian Women in Music Awards is an annual event that celebrates outstanding women in the Australian Music Industry who have made significant and lasting contributions in their chosen field. They commenced in 2018.
Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
2019 | Thelma Plum | Songwriter Award | Nominated | [64] |
The J Awards are an annual series of Australian music awards that were established by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's youth-focused radio station Triple J. They commenced in 2005.
Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
2012 | herself | Unearthed Artist of the Year | Nominated | |
2019 | Better in Blak | Australian Album of the Year | Nominated | [65] |
"Better in Blak" | Australian Video of the Year | Nominated |
The National Indigenous Music Awards (NIMAs) is an annual awards ceremony that recognises the achievements of Indigenous Australians in music. Thelma Plum has won two awards.
Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
2013 | Thelma Plum | Best New Talent | Won | |
2015 | "How Much Does Your Love Cost?" | Song of the Year | Won | |
2019 | Better in Blak | Album of the Year | Nominated | |
"Better in Blak" | Song of the Year | Nominated | ||
2020 | Thelma Plum | Artist of the Year | Nominated | [66] [67] |
"Homecoming Queen" | Song of the Year | Nominated | ||
2022 | Thelma Plum | Artist of the Year | Nominated | [68] [69] |
"Backseat of My Mind" | Song of the Year | Nominated | ||
2023 | Meanjin (EP) | Album of the Year | Won | [70] [71] |
"The Brown Snake" | Film Clip of the Year | Nominated |
The National Live Music Awards (NLMAs) are a broad recognition of Australia's diverse live industry, celebrating the success of the Australian live scene. The awards commenced in 2016.
Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
2019 | herself | Live Voice of the Year | Nominated | [72] [73] |
Queensland Live Voice of the Year | Won | |||
2023 | Thelma Plum | Best Pop Act | Won | [74] [75] |
The Queensland Music Awards (previously known as Q Song Awards) are annual awards celebrating Queensland, Australia's brightest emerging artists and established legends. They commenced in 2006. [76]
Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result (wins only) | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
2013 | "Rosie" | Indigenous Song of the Year | Won | [77] [78] |
2020 | Better in Blak | Album of the Year | Won | [79] |
2023 | "Backseat of My Mind" | Pop Award | Won | [80] |
Song of the Year | Won |
The Rolling Stone Australia Awards are awarded annually in January or February by the Australian edition of Rolling Stone magazine for outstanding contributions to popular culture in the previous year. [81]
Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
2023 | Meanjin | Best Record | Nominated | [82] |
The Vanda & Young Global Songwriting Competition is an annual competition that "acknowledges great songwriting whilst supporting and raising money for Nordoff-Robbins" and is coordinated by Albert Music and APRA AMCOS. It commenced in 2009. [83]
Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
2013 | "Breathe in Breathe Out" | Vanda & Young Global Songwriting Competition | 3rd | [84] |
2020 | "Better in Blak" | Vanda & Young Global Songwriting Competition | 1st | [85] |
Troy Cassar-Daley is an Australian country music songwriter and entertainer.
Joshua Jon Pyke is an Australian singer-songwriter, producer, musician and children's book author.
Emma Louise Lobb, who performs as Emma Louise, is an Australian indie pop singer-songwriter from Cairns. She is best known for her 2011 debut single "Jungle". Two studio albums, Vs Head vs Heart and Supercry, have reached the ARIA Albums Chart top 15. At the ARIA Music Awards of 2013 she was nominated for Best Female Artist.
Daniel Leo Sultan is an Australian alternative rock singer-songwriter and guitarist, actor and author. At the ARIA Music Awards of 2010 he won Best Male Artist and Best Blues & Roots Album for his second album, Get Out While You Can. At the 2014 ceremony he won Best Rock Album for Blackbird, which had reached number four on the ARIA Albums Chart. In 2017, Sultan's record Killer was nominated for three ARIA awards: Best Male Artist, Best Rock Album, and Best Independent Release. Sultan's debut children's music album Nali & Friends was named Best Children's Album at the ARIA Music Awards of 2019.
Busby Marou are an Australian musical duo consisting of Thomas Busby and Jeremy Marou, from Rockhampton, Queensland. At the APRA Music Awards of 2012, the duo won "Blues & Roots Work of the Year" category for their single "Biding My Time", and they have gone on to win several other awards.
Casey Barnes is an Australian country rock singer-songwriter from Tasmania, Australia, who is best known as a contestant on the seventh season of Australian Idol in 2009. Barnes won the ARIA Award for Best Country Album in 2022.
Amy Louise Billings, known professionally as Amy Shark, is an Australian indie pop singer-songwriter-guitarist and producer from the Gold Coast, Queensland. During 2008 to 2012, her early solo material was released and performed under the name Amy Cushway. Her 2016 single "Adore" peaked at number 3 on the ARIA Singles Chart and was also listed at number 2 on the Triple J Hottest 100, 2016. Her album Love Monster debuted at number 1 on the ARIA Albums Chart. Shark has won 8 ARIA Music Awards from 29 nominations, including winning Best Pop Release three times: in 2017 for her extended play, Night Thinker, 2018 for Love Monster and 2020 for "Everybody Rise".
Danzal James Baker, known professionally as Baker Boy, is a Yolngu rapper, dancer, artist, and actor. Baker Boy is known for performing original hip-hop songs incorporating both English and Yolŋu Matha and is one of the most prominent Aboriginal Australian rappers.
Grace Kathleen Elizabeth Shaw, known professionally as Mallrat, is an Australian musician, singer, and rapper from Brisbane. Mallrat has released three EPs: Uninvited (2016), In the Sky (2018) and Driving Music (2019). She also released her full-length debut studio album titled Butterfly Blue (2022) in May 2022 to critical acclaim. In 2019, her tracks "Groceries" and "UFO" placed at number 7 and 70, respectively, in the 2018 Triple J Hottest 100, in 2020, "Charlie" and "Nobody's Home" placed at number 3 and 59, respectively, in the 2019 Triple J Hottest 100 and in 2021, "Rockstar" placed 13 in the 2020 Triple J Hottest 100.
Dallas Woods, is an Indigenous Australian rapper and singer. Woods is known for his role on ABC Kids' Move It Mob Style and in 2018 as Baker Boy's support act on his national tour. Woods gained attention by winning the New Talent Song of the Year Award for Baker Boy's track "Mr La Di Da Di", cowritten with Baker Boy, Jerome Farah, and Dion Brownfield.
Alex Burnett is a Sydney/London based singer, songwriter and producer known for fronting his band Sparkadia and collaborations with major artists including Thelma Plum, Hockey Dad, DJ Snake, Hayden James, Flight Facilities, Elderbrook, Mansionair, Kano, Chaka Khan and Hudson Taylor.
Better in Blak is the debut studio album by Australian singer-songwriter Thelma Plum, released on 12 July 2019 through Warner Music Australia.
"Better in Blak" is a song by Australian singer/songwriter Thelma Plum, released on 26 April 2019 as the third single from her debut studio album of the same name.
"Meditjin" is a song by Indigenous Australian musician Baker Boy featuring Indigenous New Zealand rapper JessB, released on 21 November 2019 as the second single from his debut album Gela (2021).
Miiesha Elizabeth Rose Young, known mononymously as Miiesha, is an Australian singer-songwriter from the Aboriginal community of Woorabinda, Queensland. She was the recipient of New Talent of the Year at the 2020 National Indigenous Music Awards and won the ARIA Award for Best Soul/R&B Release at the 2020 ARIA Music Awards.
Sasha McLeod, known professionally as Sycco, is an Australian singer-songwriter and producer from Brisbane. She was nominated for Triple J Unearthed Artist of the Year in 2020, having released the pop singles "Nicotine" and "Dribble" in the same year.
Beddy Rays are an Australian rock band from the outer Brisbane suburb of Redland Bay, Queensland. With music described as "rollicking coastal punk rock", they are best known for their 2020 single "Sobercoaster". The band have supported Tones and I on tour, as well as Dune Rats and Hockey Dad.
Budjerah Julum Slabb, known mononymously as Budjerah, is an Australian singer from Fingal Head, New South Wales. He is a Coodjinburra man from the Bundjalung nation.
King Stingray is an Australian rock band from Northeast Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory. With a sound self-described as "Yolŋu surf rock", the band perform songs with lyrics in both English and Yolŋu Matha. King Stingray released their debut single, "Hey Wanhaka", in October 2020, and their self-titled debut album on 5 August 2022.
"Backseat of My Mind" is a song by Australian singer/songwriter Thelma Plum, released on 27 May 2022 as the lead single from Plum’s third EP Meanjin.