Australian singer-songwriter Julia Jacklin has shared her latest single, The Hardest Thing, the third preview of her forthcoming fourth studio album, The Gem, due 25th September via 4AD.
Following recent releases I Wish and Get Away From Me (I Think I’ll Love You Soon), the new track offers another glimpse into an album built around the tensions between intimacy, independence and the search for a life that feels authentic. The Hardest Thing arrives with an ambitious one-shot video directed by Danny Cohen, filmed entirely from a helicopter as it winds through the Melbourne skyline.
Julia Jacklin
The Hardest Thing sits at the heart of The Gem, both literally and thematically, appearing as the album’s fourth track. Its arrival follows the previously released I Wish, featuring The Maes, and Get Away From Me (I Think I’ll Love You Soon), continuing Jacklin’s exploration of the emotional contradictions that have shaped the record.
The Gem takes its name from a Melbourne bar that played an important role in Jacklin’s return to music-making. After moving from Sydney to Melbourne in 2017, she discovered the small Collingwood venue, where bands performed in an intimate setting among the tables and patrons. Years later, it became the unlikely home of her fourth album.
Rather than heading into a conventional studio, Jacklin recorded The Gem at Rat Shack, located above the bar, alongside producer and engineer Robert Muinos and a close-knit group of musicians: Jacob Diamond on guitar, Mimi Gilbert on bass and Jess Elwood on drums.
The sessions unfolded over almost a year between December 2024 and December 2025. What initially looked like a project that could be completed within a couple of weeks instead became a process of experimentation and gradual discovery, with the limitations of the space becoming part of the record’s character.
The band could not record late into the night because of the residential setting, while everyday activity around the venue continued to bleed into the sessions. Rather than fighting those imperfections, Jacklin embraced them, allowing the album to develop organically. “I want to love and be loved, but I also want to be free,” Jacklin says. “The tension between those two things has been the central question of my life.”
That tension runs through The Gem, which follows three acclaimed solo albums — 2016’s Don’t Let The Kids Win, 2019’s Crushing and 2022’s PRE PLEASURE. The new record finds Jacklin turning inward, using the process of making music at home in Melbourne as a means of reconnecting with herself.
The album’s title also carries a more literal connection to the recording process. On the final day of the sessions, Jacklin and her bandmates received matching tattoos representing opals, her favourite gemstone. The tattoos were created by one of the bartenders at The Gem, providing a permanent reminder of the community surrounding the album. “The Gem felt like a metaphor for the whole process, because a lot of it did feel like digging,” Jacklin explains. “I felt like I was doing it almost in the dark, just trusting I was going to find something.”
That sense of excavation is reflected in an album that Jacklin describes as a journey back towards herself. Across its ten tracks, The Gem explores the push and pull between connection and freedom, while drawing on the friendships and surroundings that helped shape its creation.
The new single’s cinematic visual treatment provides a striking contrast to the intimate circumstances in which the album was made. Directed by Cohen, the one-shot film was captured from a helicopter, sweeping across Melbourne’s skyline and transforming the city that has become such an important part of Jacklin’s story into the backdrop for the song.
The Gem will be released worldwide on 25th September across digital, CD, cassette and vinyl formats, with special editions available in Turquoise, Green Opal, Ruby and Rose Quartz vinyl.
With the album release approaching, Jacklin will embark on an extensive international tour, beginning in North America in October before heading to the UK, Ireland and Europe in early 2027. She has also rescheduled her Liverpool and Nottingham in-store appearances, with the new dates set for November and December respectively. Existing tickets for the original shows remain valid.
With The Gem marking a new chapter for Julia Jacklin, The Hardest Thing offers another compelling glimpse of an album born from change, uncertainty and the decision to trust where the journey might lead.
Upcoming UK & Ireland Dates:
NOVEMBER 2026
30th – Liverpool, UK – Jacaranda – In-store show & signing
DECEMBER 2026
1st – Nottingham, UK – Rough Trade – In-store show & signing
FEBRUARY 2027
13th – Birmingham, Town Hall
14th – Manchester, Albert Hall
15th – Dublin, National Stadium
17th – Glasgow, Barrowland Ballroom
18th – Bristol, Beacon
19th – London, Eventim Apollo
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