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Australia's Ella Thompson will make believe 'Triumph And Sadness' are as much a part of soul as floor fillers, foot stompers and Northern!
After Ella's 'Ripple On The Wing' album (see review HERE), the Mr Bongo single 'Promise To Keep' / 'Change of Heart' (see review HERE) and her last outing, ‘Dandelion’.(see HERE), Naarm/Melbourne-based vocalist, musician, and songwriter turns sadness into a triumph on the ten track album 'Triumph And Sadness'.
Ella Thompson is standing up for feeling, joy and pain and all the messy, confusing, beautiful twists in life's journey. Like a 'Parable' or deep in 'Promise To Keep' is on the soulful side of Northern Soul as her songs tell stories of the heart, finding universal truths in the honesty of personal experience.
Released on UK label Mr Bongo and College of Knowledge in Australia, 'Triumph & Sadness' is her most profound album yet - a powerful and unique record inspired by a classic sweet soul sound and rooted in the contemporary moment. Reaching out with vulnerability and poise, it is a plea for connection in a world gone numb.
Recorded over four fruitful days at an all-analogue studio in the stunning natural surroundings of rural Victoria (with additional sessions for horns vocals and overdubs at Sound Park in Northcote), 'Triumph & Sadness' was cut direct-to-tape with all the urgency and warmth of the iconic ‘60s and ‘70s sessions that first inspired her. Written alongside Liam McGorry (Temporary Blessings), featuring collaborators from bands Surprise Chef and Karate Boogaloo and mixed by Daptone and The Womack Sisters collaborator Wayne Gordon, it captures the live energy of a band at the top of their game.
Because it is through Melbourne’s vibrant, supportive independent scene that Thompson has found her voice. Coming up alongsid' e contemporaries like Hiatus Kaiyote, two solo releases followed in quick succession, the 7-track EP ‘Domino’ in 2023, and aforementioned LP 'Ripple on the Wing' (2024), pushing the boundaries of the song form and immersing herself in studio production, while building a creative community that has in turn shaped her sound.
Inspired by Australian soul singer Renée Geyer, who blazed a trail across the country in the 1970s, and a wide tapestry of influences from soul titans like Nina Simone and Curtis Mayfield, to the philosophical musings of Patti Smith, Alice Walker and Simone Weil, Thompson takes the listener by the heart and hand across the album’s 10 shimmering songs.
Her belief in the significance of connection shines through on the album’s thematic centrepiece, ‘Promise To Keep’. It is a track that feels at once profound and whimsical in the best possible way, about building nerve, embracing naivety, bravery and love in an act that Thompson likens to a renewed romanticism.
Released on UK label Mr Bongo and College of Knowledge in Australia, 'Triumph & Sadness' is her most profound album yet - a powerful and unique record inspired by a classic sweet soul sound and rooted in the contemporary moment. Reaching out with vulnerability and poise, it is a plea for connection in a world gone numb.
Recorded over four fruitful days at an all-analogue studio in the stunning natural surroundings of rural Victoria (with additional sessions for horns vocals and overdubs at Sound Park in Northcote), 'Triumph & Sadness' was cut direct-to-tape with all the urgency and warmth of the iconic ‘60s and ‘70s sessions that first inspired her. Written alongside Liam McGorry (Temporary Blessings), featuring collaborators from bands Surprise Chef and Karate Boogaloo and mixed by Daptone and The Womack Sisters collaborator Wayne Gordon, it captures the live energy of a band at the top of their game.
Because it is through Melbourne’s vibrant, supportive independent scene that Thompson has found her voice. Coming up alongsid' e contemporaries like Hiatus Kaiyote, two solo releases followed in quick succession, the 7-track EP ‘Domino’ in 2023, and aforementioned LP 'Ripple on the Wing' (2024), pushing the boundaries of the song form and immersing herself in studio production, while building a creative community that has in turn shaped her sound.
Inspired by Australian soul singer Renée Geyer, who blazed a trail across the country in the 1970s, and a wide tapestry of influences from soul titans like Nina Simone and Curtis Mayfield, to the philosophical musings of Patti Smith, Alice Walker and Simone Weil, Thompson takes the listener by the heart and hand across the album’s 10 shimmering songs.
Her belief in the significance of connection shines through on the album’s thematic centrepiece, ‘Promise To Keep’. It is a track that feels at once profound and whimsical in the best possible way, about building nerve, embracing naivety, bravery and love in an act that Thompson likens to a renewed romanticism.
For anyone that's fallen in/out of love, there is ‘Change of Heart’ which reflects on the temporality, impermanence and synchronicity of a moment, and the bittersweet paradox where everything contains its opposite: absence and presence, innocence and experience, triumph and sadness. Musically, it unfolds as a down-tempo, slinky ballad with falsetto vocals, ending in triumphant horns that signal the release of letting go. Drawing on the group vocal arrangements of bands like The Royalettes, it is devastating in its simplicity - hard not to cry.
One of the many highlights is ‘My Weakness’ (Ed. check out the high notes), which draws on the myth of Narcissus to question the loops of recognition and unsated longing built into life under Capitalism, to the bubbling intensity of ‘Dandelion’ whose contradiction between bitter taste and beautiful flower inspires Thompson to ask what we fear by caring too much.
One of the many highlights is ‘My Weakness’ (Ed. check out the high notes), which draws on the myth of Narcissus to question the loops of recognition and unsated longing built into life under Capitalism, to the bubbling intensity of ‘Dandelion’ whose contradiction between bitter taste and beautiful flower inspires Thompson to ask what we fear by caring too much.
'Triumph & Sadness' weaves together threads that speak of life’s great challenges. It is a complete and compelling statement from an artist ready to connect with a global audience for the first time.
BUY LINK / PRE-ORDER: https://bfan.link/triumph-sadness
Title: Triumph And Sadness
Release Date : 16th October, 2026
Label : Mr Bongo Records
Catalog Number : MRBCDLP354
Format: Vinyl LP / CD / Digital / Bandcamp
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