Hot on the heels of her latest album, Love Saves debuting at number one on the ARIA Aus Albums chart, Tina Arena is taking her new material, alongside her well-loved classics, on tour around the country in October.
Tina Arena has become part of the fabric of the Australian music landscape over the course of nearly five decades in showbiz; her songs weaving their way into our collective musical consciousness. She has an impressive array of accolades to her name, including 10 million album sales, seven ARIA Awards, an Order of Australia, a French National Order of Merit, the inaugural Rolling Stone Icon Award and is an inductee of the ARIA Hall of Fame. Despite her glittering career, she says Love Saves, her ninth Top 10 album and her first to be released as an independent artist, feels particularly special.
Keep up with the latest music news, features, festivals, interviews and reviews here.
“This one was really poignant because it’s completely independent. There’s no radio support. There’s no record company support. There’s only the support of your team and the people that are kind enough to buy the record,” she says. “If it wasn’t for those people, I wouldn’t have a roof over my head and I wouldn’t have food on the table. It’s really that simple. It’s those individuals that enable you to have the journey that you have. So this number one meant an awful lot to me.”
After watching many close industry friends and colleagues pass away over the last few years, Tina has been imbued with a greater appreciation of the fragility of life. She has fought hard over the years to be able to tour internationally and as a newly independent artist, she has turned this long-held dream into reality.
“I’ve lost so many mates in this business. You don’t know how much time you have, so it’s nothing to play with. Is there a right time? Is there a wrong time? I don’t bloody know. All I know is that now is the time.”
Love Saves heralds the beginning of a new era for the beloved Australian songstress; one characterised by a beautifully stripped-back sound.
“I think it’s revolutionary to go back to what’s essential, particularly in a world where people tend to follow suit… I just needed to wipe out the noise and get back to what was fundamentally important to me… the song, the story and the emotion,” she says.
A combination of working with a small team of extremely close friends to craft the album and having creative control from start to finish has made for an intimate and heartfelt, while at times gritty and defiant musical offering that she hopes resonates deeply with her audience. “I just hope that it heals them like it’s healed me… It comes from such an honest place,” she says.
Throughout the process of writing and recording the album, with the pandemic as a backdrop, ‘Love Saves’ and ‘Music Saves’ have become the unofficial battle cries for her and her co-writers. No stranger to the healing power of music, Tina is philosophical about the role it has played in her life.
“Music is a saviour for me. I think it saved me from a lot of darkness. I think it’s always saved me. It’s what keeps me going.”
Appropriately, the iconic Melburnian will be performing at another local icon, the Melbourne Town Hall on October 19 and 20, to her adoring home crowd.
“Melbourne crowds are great. They always have been an amazing audience. They’re very appreciative, they’re very arts conscious and they understand the importance of it,” she says.
After wrapping up the Australian leg of the tour, she will take the Love Saves Tour to the US, Canada, France and the UK. Tina remains humbled by the support of her loyal fans overseas.
“I just hope that this is the beginning of an opportunity for me over the next few years to be able to greet, say hello and to thank my international audience for having supported me all these years.”
Tickets for Tina Arena’s Love Saves Tour are on sale now for October 19 and 20 at Melbourne Town Hall.
