Julia Jacklin Shares New Single ‘The Hardest Thing’

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 25 September worldwide. Exclusive colour vinyl editions with retailers will include Turquoise, Green Opal, Ruby, and Rose Quartz. For pre-order information head HERE

To celebrate the release of The Gem, Julia Jacklin will tour North America, UK and Europe beginning October 2026 and throughout 2027. A full list of dates can be found below; further information can be found HERE. Jacklin has rescheduled her Liverpool and Nottingham in-store performances for November 30 and December 1 respectively. Tickets purchased for the original dates will be honoured.

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.”

Julia Jacklin – The Gem

25 September | 4AD 0942

Pre-Order

Formats: Digital, CD, Cassette, Standard Black Vinyl, Turquoise Vinyl [Indie Retail Exclusive], Green Opal Vinyl [Artist + 4AD Webstore Exclusive], Ruby Vinyl [Happy Valley / In-Store Exclusive], Rose Quartz Vinyl [JB Hi-Fi Exclusive]

Tracklisting:

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]

Credits:

Produced by Julia Jacklin and Robert Muinos

Engineered by Robert Muinos

Mixed by Robert Muinos

Mastered by Jordan Power

Vinyl Mastering by Anne Taegert

Recorded at Rat Shack, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia between December 2024-December 2025

JULIA JACKLIN TOUR DATES

2026

20 October – SAN DIEGO, CA, USA, The Observatory North Park

22 October – LOS ANGELES, CA, USA, The Wiltern

23 October – SAN FRANCISCO, CA, USA, The Castro Theatre **SOLD OUT**

24 October – SAN FRANCISCO, CA, USA, The Castro Theatre

26 October – PORTLAND, OR, USA, Crystal Ballroom **SOLD OUT**

27 October – VANCOUVER, CANADA, Commodore Ballroom

28 October – SEATTLE, WA, USA, The Moore Theatre

30 October – SALT LAKE CITY, UT, USA, Metro Music Hall

31 October – DENVER, CO, USA, Gothic Theatre

2 November – DALLAS, TX, USA, Studio at Bomb Factory

3 November – AUSTIN, TX, USA, Radio/East

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

6 November – ATLANTA, GA, USA, Variety Playhouse

7 November – NASHVILLE, TN, USA, Brooklyn Bowl

9 November – RALEIGH, NC, USA, Cat’s Cradle

10 November – WASHINGTON, D.C., USA, Lincoln Theatre

11 November – PITTSBURGH, PA, USA, Mr. Small’s Theatre

13 November – MINNEAPOLIS, MN, USA, First Avenue

14 November – CHICAGO, IL, USA, The Riviera Theatre

15 November – TORONTO, CANADA, Danforth Music Hall

17 November – MONTREAL, CANADA, Théâtre Beanfield

19 November – BROOKLYN, NY, USA, Brooklyn Paramount

20 November – BOSTON, MA, USA, Royale

21 November – PHILADELPHA, PA, USA, Union Transfer

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

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

2027

13 February – BIRMINGHAM, UK, Town Hall

14 February – MANCHESTER, UK, Albert Hall

15 February – DUBLIN, IRELAND, National Stadium

17 February – GLASGOW, UK, Barrowland Ballroom

18 February – BRISTOL, UK, Beacon

19 February – LONDON, UK, Eventim Apollo

21 February – BRUSSELS, BELGIUM, Botanique

22 February – BERLIN, GERMANY, Festsaal Kreuzberg

23 February – HAMBURG, GERMANY, Kent Club

24 February – COPENHAGEN, DENMARK, DR Koncerthuset

26 February – AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS, Paradiso

27 February – PARIS, FRANCE, Cabaret Sauvage

1 March – BARCELONA, SPAIN, La [2] de Apolo

2 March – MADRID, SPAIN, Sala Mon Live

3 March – LISBON, PORTUGAL, LAV