William Crighton at Smith's Alternative

Performers

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  William Crighton

  ARIA Award–winning singer-songwriter William Crighton will release his fourth studio album, Colonial Drift, on March 20, 2026. A pioneer of Bush-Psych and a vital voice in Australian music, Crighton weaves stories of land, spirit and struggle with raw intensity. His music carries the weight of ancient winds, grounding modern truths in timeless song. Leading the release is the first single, Further Down the Road, written by Crighton, his wife Julieanne, and bandmate Luke Davison. Experiencing time as linear makes history a fading memory and the future an uncertain beast. The song comes from nights alone outside the world of clocks and modern man, in the bush, experiencing the cyclic nature of time and reconnecting past, present and future. Sex, Death and Choices, a B-side born when the world felt like it was splitting in two – one half chasing immortality in space, the other half sitting barefoot in the dirt trying to remember what it means to be human. A collage of people I’ve loved, mistakes I’ve made, and the strange era we’re stumbling through. Recorded at The Grove Studios by Damian Charles, with a portion crafted in Crighton’s home studio, Colonial Drift stands as his boldest work yet - expansive, uncompromising and unmistakably his. Renowned for powerful live performances, Crighton has toured with Midnight Oil and The Dead South and appeared at major festivals including Glastonbury, carving a uniquely Australian sound: fierce, grounded, wholly his own.