On August 31st, 2018, the unbelievable singer-songwriter, Tash Sultana, released their debut studio album, Flow State. They released this through their own label, Lonely Lands Records, and it has been making a statement across the world since the end of August.

If you aren’t already aware of who Sultana is, I suggest you check out youtube videos of them busking on streets of their home city, Melbourne, just a few years ago. In the time since those videos were taken, the 23 year old has made a massive name for themselves utilizing a loop pedal, an assortment of instruments, and their next level abilities on the guitar accompanied by their uniquely powerful voice.

Flow State is a little over one hour long and is comprised of 13 songs highlighting Sultana’s creative writing ability. The first four songs are classic Sultana-style vibes with Big Smoke and Cigarettes being two of my personal favorites. Their ability to use and apply so many different guitar styles and sounds into a single song leaves you speechless. For example, Cigarettes starts out as a viby and clean tune but then finishes off with a ripping solo that showcases their insane control over the guitar’s fretboard. After that comes the Album mix of Murder to the Mind which was released a while back but fits perfectly in this LP.

After that, the album takes a turn with their song Seven which is completely instrumental and gives the sense that Sultana has taken inspiration from genres such as EDM. After Seven comes Salvation, the first single that was released for the album back in June. Following that is a personal favorite, Pink Moon which showcases Sultana’s powerhouse of a voice. At the end they play a very clean and mellow guitar solo which breaks down into a screaming solo that comes out of nowhere and catches you off guard in the most amazing way. Then is their acoustic jam, Mellow Marmalade, which makes you want to kick back on a beach and listen to it on repeat. This song is the peak of showcasing how Sultana can foster so much sound and emotion with so little. The entire song is just them and an acoustic guitar, but it makes you feel like there is so much more going on.

After Mellow Marmalade is Harvest Love, the second single released over the summer. Harvest Love does the same thing as the song prior to it before getting back into a full band sound in the song Mystik. Mystik brings back the upbeat vibes similar to the first half of the album, however, in this song Tash changes things up by showing off their trumpet abilities in the solo rather than a guitar solo which is common in most of their other songs.

To finish off the magnificent album, Tash included a lovely instrumental piece titled Outro. However, prior to that is my absolute favorite song on the album, Blackbird. Blackbird is an experience. It starts out with a three minute acoustic guitar solo before Sultana comes in with their vocals to show off how delicate and powerful they can be all within one song. After the middle section it finishes off again with a large acoustic guitar solo making the entire masterpiece over 9 minutes long.

All together, Tash Sultana has made a worldwide statement with this debut LP. They are reaching the tops of charts in so many different markets and once you listen to this album, you will see why. I am excited to see what is to come in the future from this all-in-one guitarist, vocalist, loop-pedal master.