INTERVIEW: Emily Lubitz on her debut solo album 'Two Black Horses': "My songs are ways of figuring out my own feelings or framing moments in my life that need framing."
Published: 12 August 2025
Australia’s Emily Lubitz made a name for herself over more than a decade as the lead singer of the award winning indie-folk band Tinpan Orange. In 2022 she launched her solo career, and has recently released her debut solo album Two Black Horses.
Produced by Lubitz’s husband and long-time collaborator, Harry James Angus, the nine tracks on Two Black Horses are deeply personal studies of heartache, family and growing older. Aside from being produced by her husband, a deep connection to family runs through the album, with songs inspired by her parent’s relationship and her role as a mother, as well as old recordings of her family members being utilised on one of the songs.
Sonically the album has a foundation of alt-indie, with lashes of folk, country, jazz and soul added to the mix making it a gorgeous listen that is connective, warm and immersive.
The album starts with ‘Two Black Horses Tumbling out of the Snow’ which begins with a recording of Lubitz’s mother and uncles singing a Swiss folk song before a lush soundscape sweeps in with the tempo changing dramatically for the chorus, which swells with strings. It is a beautiful, grand entry into the album which is almost breathtaking in its scope and soundscape.
‘Big Time’ embraces a country sound as Lubitz sings of a woman who sacrificed everything for her singing career, and while maybe her career didn’t take off the way she dreamt of it has given her a life of freedom perhaps her friends never had. ‘She’s talking to an old friend / They’re all getting a divorce / She’s free like she’s always been…Any regrets she has she just sings them out on stage.’
‘Stay Tender-Hearted’ is a dreamy, almost lullaby of a song with is an ode to her children, with a message of never letting the struggles of life take away love and your dreams. ‘Life takes what it takes but let something remain / Dream all your dreams / Burst at the seams / And stay tender-hearted.’
‘A Kardashian Winter’, which features Darren Hanlon, is a brooding country-jazz meld with a sense of melancholy at its core as it speaks of being on a holiday but all you you want is to be back with the person you love: ‘I’m in a foreign city at the end of the world / Trying to get back to you.’.
‘My Rita’ with its sliding country rock beat was inspired by the relationship between Lubitz’s parents, a forbidden love due to their different religions. ‘I’m sorry mother / But I love her / If the rabbi don’t want to come to the feast he won’t get to see my Rita spinning round.’.
The album finishes on two songs exploring some of the anxieties we face as we get older. ‘Don’t Worry You Got Time’ addresses the fear we will never achieve what we want to. ‘Trains are leaving the platform / Every hour and speeding down the line / You never manage to catch one / But honey you got time.”
‘Too Old To Die Young’, featuring Jordie Lane, features their vocals atop little more than an acoustic guitar and was initially inspired by turning 27 and surviving the mythical ‘27 club’ (based on a number of celebrities such as Kurt Cobain and Amy Winehouse dying at 27), but now reflects on a good life lived without fanfare. ‘Days pass without protest…never was a high roller baby / My sin is being ordinary.’
Two Black Horses is a remarkable album made by a consummate artist who it feels is in the greatest creative form of her long career. Filled with emotion and beautiful storytelling without ever feeling cloying, and backed with some of the most gorgeous soundscapes you will hear this year, this is an album that will give you all the feels and leave you feeling just a little more infused with the highs - and lows - of life than when you first hit play. We recently caught up with Lubitz to chat all about the creation of the album.
Hi Emily! Thanks so much for taking the time to chat. How is everything in your world right now?
It’s been a great week. Sold out shows and a #1 Country Record. Can’t complain.
Congratulations on the release of your new album Two Black Horses, this is a truly gorgeous collection of music. It is your first collection since 2022’s Begin Again, what is the story of the creation and journey of this album?
These songs were collected over time. Many co-written with my husband Harry or good friends who know how to write a great tune. The recording was spread over about a year and took place in a number of studios from the hills of Northern Rivers NSW to the concrete of inner Melbourne. Many friends played on the record. My mum and uncles open the album with an old recording of them singing a traditional Swiss folk song.
I am curious to know the origin of the album’s name, Two Black Horses. It is obviously taken from the beautifully atmospheric opening track ‘Two Black Horses Tumbling out of the Snow’, can you tell me a little bit about the name and the importance of having this song open the album?
Two Black Horses refers to the opening song that describes the day my mother’s dad suddenly died when she was 13. The song is about a rupture. A defining moment in my mother’s life. It was a tragic moment but it also set in motion things that led her to leave her little town in search for something more. In the end my mum has had a happy life.
On that topic, your family play a large role in this album. ‘Your Rita’ is about your parents, as you said your mum and uncles sing on the opening track and ‘Stay Tender-Hearted’ is about being a mother. And perhaps most importantly, the album was created with your husband! While the personal always becomes part of an artist’s work, does it ever come with doubt or questioning just what to sing about and what to keep personal?
There are strong themes of family threaded through these songs. Also I’ve touched upon the majesty of getting older. I guess we all have families and we all get older, so people seem to be connecting with the songs. I write songs about whatever bubbles up. The personal is what moves me. My songs are ways of figuring out my own feelings or framing moments in my life that need framing. They say, write what you know I have kept the subject matter very close to me in this record.
The song ‘Kardashian Winter’ sees you duet with Darren Hanlon, and it has a melancholic jazz-country feel as you sing of being in a foreign country and missing someone back home. Can you tell me a little about this song and the collaboration, and particularly the inspiration behind the Kardashian reference!
Darren Hanlon is a musician and songwriter and human I have huge respect for so I was so excited to have him play on my record. The song is kind of a dreamscape. A strange city, where you feel lost and disconnected. It was more about feeling far away from myself. The Kardashians seem to be the epitome of external existence. The song is about longing for home and connection.
‘Don’t Worry You Got Time’ is a lovely, gentle track reminding us all that we still have time to do the things we want to. There is so much societal pressure on everyone now to achieve everything, that in turn creates a huge amount of angst when we believe our life and achievements aren’t as good as that person on Instagram who seemingly has everything. What are your thoughts on this, and was this song in a way an antidote to that pressure?
Yeah, life online has become a weird alternate reality. It feels so fast. As you say, everyone is achieving everything all at once. We can feel like we’re going to be left behind. But I think life is long and creative processes can take a while to form. It’s best to take our time.
You are currently in the middle of your Australian wide tour, how are you feeling about that and what can we expect to experience at the shows?
I’ll be touring with my beautiful four piece band. Shows have been selling out and we’ve been adding extra shows - we are excited to play them all!
Being a musician today involves so many aspects of creativity, from writing, recording, shooting videos, doing promotion, performing live. What is your favourite part of the whole process?
I love writing and playing live. The recording is fun but also can feel stressful. The promotion is necessary but can feel like a burden. On stage, connecting with an audience, I’m happy.
You have been releasing music for two decades now, both as part of a group and as a solo artist. I was wondering what has been the most significant changes in the industry that you have witnessed, particularly in how female artists are treated and perceived, because let’s face it it has never been a particularly welcoming space for women.
I was very uncertain about how this record would be received, being a 42 year old woman. I had many doubts. I feel like thanks to many trailblazers before me in the last 10 years, the ageism of our industry, particularly relating to women is easing. My age doesn’t seem like an issue, more like an asset.
Two Black Horses is out now and your tour is underway, do you have any further artistic plans for 2025?Better start writing the next record!
Two Black Horses is out now. You can buy and stream here.
Follow Emily Lubitz on Instagram, Facebook and Bandcamp.
Two Black Horses Album Launch Tour
17 August - Ash Grunworld Support, Gold Coast Currumbin
23 August - It’s Still A Secret, Brisbane
24 August - HomeGrown Cafe, Sunshine Coast
28 August - The Citadel, Murwillumbah
29 August - The Brunswick Picture House, Brunswick Heads
30 August - Bowraville Theatre, Bowraville
6 September - Old Stone Hall, Beechworth
