Kutcha Edwards, Mona Sessions at Mona, Mona Foma 2023 | Photo credit: Mona/Jesse Hunniford
KUTCHA PLAYS THE SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE! – FRIDAY THE 7TH JULY

Tickets are available here - https://www.sydneyoperahouse.com/contemporary-music/kutcha-edwards
LOVE, CHARISMA, GENEROSITY: THE EXTRAORDINARY LIFE OF UNCLE KUTCHA EDWARDS- STEVE DOW THE GUARDIAN
KUTCHA EDWARDS NEW SINGLE MOTHER TONGUE IS OUT JUNE 9
Mother Tongue is a Universal Song. It talks not only about Aboriginal languages but languages from all round the globe. As Kutcha explains there’s a kaleidoscope of languages from all points, North, South, East, and West.
Proud Mutti Mutti songman and survivor of the Stolen Generations, Kutcha says “The purpose is clear, through song you can provoke change”. As Nick Buckley documented for NME at Mona Foma in February when he sat down with Kutcha at Frying Pan Studios, “Townend and his staff melt into supporting roles as Edwards records a spine-tingling refrain: djirrung, djirrung, djirrung”.
Kutcha explains, “…that its meaning can’t be truly articulated or even exactly spelled in English but likens it to a Buddhist meditative OM chant. Chanting djirrung hopes to send you to that place in between the physicality that is yourself and a place of contentment.” He goes on to tell us “What it does is gives the listener the opportunity to partake in an Aboriginal song, so to speak. Then we’re all heading in one direction.”
And Mother Tongue does cast a spell on the listener.
Kutcha tells us about the experience that led him to write some of the lyrics for this song, “I was sitting on a mountain top on Bunurong Country and the world was losing control. It was sometime between the 3rd & 4th state pandemic lockdowns. As I looked across the hills and the ocean I could see and feel what’s been done to Country. I’m also the lived experience of what's been done here.”
“I heard voices calling me from near and from afar. I knew I was surrounded by my ancestors. I knew who they were, and they gifted me, this song, Mother Tongue. The languages we hear are not just mine, they're yours, they're ours. English is a foreign language on this country, so when you hear this song, hear your Mother Tongue, sing your Mother Tongue, awaken your Mother Tongue… Djirrung Djirrung Djirrung”.