Rhys Duursma unveils stunning folk anthology in debut EP, 'Songs From Swan Street Vol. I'

Batemans Bay (NSW) singer/songwriter Rhys Duursma has unpacked 3 years of focus and creativity, which is now unfurled as his debut EP, ‘Songs From Swan Street Vol. I’. A folk project that was introduced to the world last year with two warmly-received singles ,’Charlie’, and ‘Days Like This’.

No newcomer to the Australian Music Scene, Rhys has previously released music with his band Lowline, and duo Mayfair Lane, but as we all know what happened in 2020, the singer/songwriter was among the many that found himself unable to write or perform with his own groups. Instead, he stripped everything back to sitting alone with an acoustic guitar in his Swan Street home, utilising the social isolation, combined with a deep dive into the songwriting greats. Ironically, this birthed songs packed full of stories that have a strong sense of community and place, painting pictures of relationships both factual and fictional.

The last three years have been a weird and wonderful trip for creatives; quite often we have had to sit back and rethink our own approaches due to the restrictions faced. Rhys Duursma’s solo EP, ‘Songs From Swan Street Vol. I’ is an interesting example of this. Combining melancholic Australian Folk, with fringe-country (as witnessed on the very Paul Kelly/Josh Pyke-ish ‘Days Like This’), through to the sweetly finger-picked tunes like the sibling-themed ‘Didn’t He’ and lead single, ‘Charlie’, and the fun shuffle of ‘Hey Ma’’, plus the more experimental closer, ‘Glenrowan’ which gently twists and turns on itself, ‘Songs From Swan Street…’ shows a next generation Australian storyteller ripe for the picking.

‘Songs From Swan Street Vol. I’ , which also features collaborations with artists CJ Stranger and Trentan Kruger, was almost never finished; technology failures resulting in over half of the recording being unrecoverable. But now, after years of work, being birthed in dark isolation, this folk anthology has finally emerged into the light.

Rhys Duursma’s debut EP, ‘Songs From Swan Street Vol. I’ is out now on all streaming platforms.