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For all the highs of his career – multiple ARIA and NIMA Awards, high-charting albums, and significant respect as a songwriter – Dan Sultan has experienced plenty of low points.
He's been candid about many of them. Struggles with addiction, a public apology for a 'disrespectful' show, media scrutiny over a court charge (which was dropped).
Through it all, Sultan has endured and poured himself back into the music. And that spirit of resilience is clear on 'Won't Give You That' – his second new single of 2023.
It's an uplifting number, buoyed by spritely dad-rock guitar that darts atop a vista of echoing piano and choral backing vocals. The whole thing simmers confidently before busting open into a runaway Tom Petty-esque rocker.
'You built me up to see me collapse but I won't give you that' Sultan sings assuredly, turning the titular phrase into an optimistic chant.
"It's a song about liberation," he says of the single.
"There are some people who…it suited them when I was unwell. It suited their internal narrative about themselves. I let it happen, I wasn't well enough and I wasn't strong enough. That's not where I am anymore."
Co-written and produced with Joel Quartermain (of Eskimo Joe fame), 'Won't Give You That' follows on from last month's 'Story', a deeply personal tune where Sultan recounts the impact of receiving a racist note on his family's doorstep at the age of four.
The musicians the event "shape[d his] world in many different ways both ugly and beautiful. To be told that you're not welcome on the basis of your race is something that brings a lot of trauma."
He expanded on that impact, and performed 'Story' live, as part of a TED Talk in Canberra, which you can watch below.
"My goal with a work like 'Story' is to be as powerful and beautiful as possible for my family regardless and in spite of anyone else's ugly notes," Sultan wrote in a note accompanying the release of 'Story'.
"I feel this is the best and most powerful example I can provide for my kids… The notes will never stop and people will always see things differently from one another."
Recently signing with new management and a fresh booking agency, it appears Dan Sultan is gearing up to release a new body of work.
His last album of original material was 2017's Killer, though in 2019 he released Aviary Takes – a compilation of live and reworked music – and the children's project Nali & Friends.
He's also back on tour, performing at High Voltage in WA in May, Vivid Live in Sydney this June, and joining Vance Joy in September for his North American tour.
Check out Double J's Best New Music playlists on Spotify and Apple Music for more great new tunes.