BLANK INSTRUMENT Shares First Single From Album Made Possible By Late Friend
Boorloo/Perth artist Blank Instrument, the musical project of singer-songwriter Kim Franklin, unveils her new single ‘Brand New’, out Friday, June 26, the first taste of her forthcoming debut album ‘Jumping at Ghosts’, due later this year.
While the warm, country-tinged folk release explores the end of a relationship and the hope that follows, it also marks the beginning of an album made possible by Franklin’s late friend Julie, whose encouragement and generosity helped bring the long-held dream of recording a full-length record to life.
The album’s origins can be traced back to one of Franklin’s final conversations with Julie, a close friend she met years earlier while working together in the public service. Bonded by a shared love of music, storytelling and conversation, the pair remained close long after moving on to different careers.
Before her passing in 2023, Julie told Franklin she wanted to leave her some money to help “pursue her dreams”. That gift ultimately funded the recording of ‘Jumping at Ghosts’, allowing Franklin to enter Sundown Studios and realise a project that may otherwise have remained out of reach. More than a debut album, the record stands as a lasting tribute to friendship, generosity and the people who shape our lives.
Following a songwriting challenge through Perth’s I Heart Songwriting Club, Franklin experienced an unexpected creative surge, with weeks of lyric writing and composition eventually forming the foundations of ‘Jumping at Ghosts’. Recorded at Sundown Studios alongside producer Elliot Smith and a cast of accomplished local musicians, the album explores themes of mental health, ageing, love and grief.
Blending warming folk, country and folk-rock influences, ‘Brand New’ captures the uncertainty, frustration and eventual acceptance that can accompany knowing something has reached its end. Acoustic and electric guitars, piano, Wurlitzer, organ and layered backing vocals steadily build throughout the track, culminating in an uplifting chorus that reflects the song’s underlying sense of hope and renewal.
Reflecting on a period spent questioning her future while living in London, Franklin draws on deeply personal experiences, exploring the emotional weight of a relationship strained by differing ambitions and the hope that can emerge once difficult decisions are finally made. Speaking on the track, Franklin shares:
“The lack of direction in my relationship caused me a lot of angst. Towards the end, there were many arguments and I remember lying in bed in the mornings just wishing he’d get up so I could lie there and be alone. I wanted to capture a snapshot of how it felt to be in the final throes of a relationship.”
Out Friday, June 26, ‘Brand New’ marks the first chapter of ‘Jumping at Ghosts’, a collection shaped by years of songwriting, self-reflection and the support of those closest to Kim Franklin.