First Sounds returns for 2021 with Volume 5

The Community Broadcasting Association of Australia and First Nations Media Australia are thrilled to continue showcasing new and emerging First Nations artists from around Australia with the release of First Sounds Volume 5. 

Four volumes of First Nations music makers were released in 2020, seeing incredible airplay on community radio across the country. Building on this foundation, First Sounds Volume 5 launches another set of tracks with an incredible diversity of sounds produced in various locations and languages. Vol. 5 features artists from Lutruwita (Tasmania), Kaurna (Adelaide), Meanjin (Brisbane) to Tamworth (Gomeroi), the Torres Strait Islands and stretching to Noongar plains (Perth). This compilation continues the pioneering of our First Nations music. From soul hip-hop to saltwater reggae, atmospheric electronica, Naaguja traditional dance songs and truth-telling punk rock.

To date, the First Sounds series has featured over 120 First Nations artists. Each artist is featured on the indigiTUBE platform as well as being distributed to over 250 community radio stations in both digital and CD formats via CBAA’s Amrap. The response has been epic with many artists receiving great airplay, often for the first time. This year, First Sounds will further support emerging Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists with their music development through a mentoring program and showcase events.

In selecting the final artists, tracks were listened to by a rotating panel of First Nations music industry leaders. Emily Wurramara, Dallas Woods, Alice Skye and Shellie Morris are just some that have participated in the curation to deliver a strong vision of First Nations music today.

Summer from Chasing Ghosts features on First Sounds Volume 5. Dunghutti frontman Jimmy Kyle speaks and writes with a potent mind:

“It’s a massive honour to have Summer on First Sounds V5 because more people will remember the Towel Creek Massacre of 1856 in Thungutti Country and the Frontier Wars. I support and encourage all First Nations artists to continue to tell it straight and keep sharing the stories of our communities!”

Broadcasters can get Vol. 5 for airplay from the CBAA Amrap website.

Next Up: Volume 6

Are you a First Nations artist and want to be a part of First Sounds? Applications for First Sounds Volume 6 are now open, closing 30 June! Artists can enter tracks up to one year old via firstsounds.indigitube.com.au.

This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council for the Arts, its arts funding and advisory body. 

For more information, contact:

indigiTUBE: Jaja Dare, Manager,

T: 0431 629 953  E: [email protected]

CBAA Amrap: Andrew Khedoori, Amrap Manager;

T: 02 9310 2999  E: [email protected]