Julia Jacklin to Release THE GEM Album with 2026–2027 Tour

Australian songwriter Julia Jacklin will release her new studio album The Gem this Friday, September 25th via 4AD. Ahead of the album's release, Jacklin has shared one final single, entitled 'If I Had The Hand Of God.' Written about a surreal trip to Nashville, the song is a meditation on the life of a touring musician and the importance (or unimportance) of legacy.

The Gem was produced by Jacklin and Robert Muinos and recorded entirely in Melbourne. The 10-track album will be released digitally and on CD, cassette and vinyl on September 25th worldwide. Exclusive colour vinyl editions with retailers will include Turquoise, Green Opal, Ruby, and Rose Quartz.

To celebrate the release of The Gem, Julia Jacklin will tour North America, UK and Europe beginning October 2026 and throughout 2027.

About The Gem

'I want to love and be loved, but I also want to be free. The tension between those two things has been the central question of my life,' says Jacklin. It's also the theme that underpins The Gem.

When Jacklin first moved to Melbourne from Sydney in 2017, she discovered a little bar on a back street in Collingwood, where bands pushed dining tables to the side and set up in a corner on the floor. She didn't know anyone in town but knew she wanted to make the city her home, so she started hanging out there, forcing herself out of her comfort zone. The pub was named The Gem.

Fast forward eight years and Jacklin, with three celebrated solo records under her belt – Don't Let The Kids Win (2016), Crushing (2019), and PRE PLEASURE (2022) – was looking to make a fourth. With time on her hands – she was out of contract with her record label, was searching for a manager – she decided to make the record at home in Melbourne, something she'd never done before. She called up an old drinking buddy Robert Muinos, owner of Rat Shack studios, which is located above The Gem, and brought in friends Jacob Diamond (guitar), Mimi Gilbert (bass), and Jess Elwood (drums).

Recording happened in close quarters, in converted hotel room accommodation upstairs at the pub. As it was a residential bar, they couldn't record late into the night for fear of bothering the neighbour and sound bleed was a glorious constraint: foot traffic to the hairdresser and the tattoo parlour next door, loud music from the bands and the kitchen crew downstairs. If anyone needed a break from the sessions, they would venture downstairs and watch a band playing. Jacklin and the band even played two unannounced shows there to try out the songs before recording them.

They thought they'd smash out the record in two weeks, like she'd always done, but that wasn't the case. In fact, it took nearly a year of tinkering to arrive at something Jacklin could get behind. 'The Gem felt like a metaphor for the whole process, because a lot of it did feel like digging. I felt like I was doing it almost in the dark, just trusting I was going to find something.'

It conjures images of excavation, of reinvention, of trusting your instincts and surrounding yourself with the people and things that make life worthwhile. It's a soaring document of the songwriter's journey back to herself.

The band got matching tattoos on the last day of The Gem sessions: a neat little circle to represent an opal – Jacklin's favourite gemstone. Fittingly, one of the bartenders at The Gem did it. 'It did really feel like we'd done something special together. And I think as a group, it felt important to commemorate it. I'm glad we all have these little gems on us.'

Tracklist

1. Brand New

2. God Sometimes

3. If I Had The Hand Of God

4. The Hardest Thing

5. Angel Vision

6. Real Life

7. Get Away From Me (I Think I'll Love You Soon)

8. You Turned On The Tap

9. Walk On Me

10. I Wish [feat. The Maes]

Tour Dates

October 20 – San Diego, CA, USA - The Observatory North Park

October 22 – Los Angeles, CA, USA - The Wiltern

October 23 – San Francisco, CA, USA - The Castro Theatre **SOLD OUT**

October 24 – San Francisco, CA, USA - The Castro Theatre

October 26 – Portland, OR, USA - Crystal Ballroom

October 27 – Vancouver, Canada - Commodore Ballroom **SOLD OUT**

October 28 – Seattle, WA, USA - The Moore Theatre

October 30 – Salt Lake City, UT, USA - Metro Music Hall

October 31 – Denver, CO, USA - Gothic Theatre

November 2 – Dallas, TX, USA - Studio at Bomb Factory

November 3 – Austin, TX, USA - Radio/East

November 4 – Houston, TX, USA - White Oak Music Hall (Downstairs)

November 6 – Atlanta, GA, USA - Variety Playhouse

November 7 – Nashville, TN, USA - Brooklyn Bowl

November 9 – Carrboro, NC, USA - Cat's Cradle

November 10 – Washington, D.C., USA - Lincoln Theatre

November 11 – Pittsburgh, PA, USA - Mr. Small's Theatre

November 13 – Minneapolis, MN, USA - First Avenue

November 14 – Chicago, IL, USA - The Riviera Theatre

November 15 – Toronto, Canada - Danforth Music Hall

November 17 – Montreal, Canada - Théâtre Beanfield

November 19 – Brooklyn, NY, USA - Brooklyn Paramount

November 20 – Boston, MA, USA - Royale

November 21 – Philadelphia, PA, USA - Union Transfer

November 30 – Liverpool, UK - Jacaranda [rescheduled solo in-store show + signing]

December 1 – Nottingham, UK - Rough Trade [rescheduled solo in-store show + signing]

February 13 – Birmingham, UK - Town Hall

February 14 – Manchester, UK - Albert Hall

February 15 – Dublin, Ireland - National Stadium

February 17 – Glasgow, UK - Barrowland Ballroom

February 18 – Bristol, UK - Beacon

February 19 – London, UK - Eventim Apollo

February 21 – Brussels, Belgium - Le Botanique

February 22 – Berlin, Germany - Festsaal Kreuzberg

February 23 – Hamburg, Germany - Kent Club

February 24 – Copenhagen, Denmark - DR Koncerthuset

February 26 – Amsterdam, Netherlands - Paradiso

February 27 – Paris, France - Cabaret Sauvage

March 1 – Barcelona, Spain - La [2] de Apolo

March 2 – Madrid, Spain - Sala Mon Live

March 3 – Lisbon, Portugal - LAV