Emma Swift's hugely successful Blonde on The Tracks album gets digital release

Double Drummer is thrilled to release the digital version of Emma Swift’s globally acclaimed Blonde on the Tracks album today. Initially released exclusively as physical-only in August, the album was a significant commercial success, despite not being available on streaming services. It debuted at #9 on the ARIA Album chart, #1 on the ARIA Vinyl chart, #13 on the UK Americana chart and #1 on the AIR chart, where it sat in the top 15 for 13 weeks.

Though many artists have covered Bob Dylan, few have had the critical acclaim that the Australian born, Nashville based Swift has achieved with Blonde on the Tracks. Produced by Wilco's Patrick Sansone, Blonde on the Tracks is an intimate and beautiful celebration of Dylan's songwriting that showcases Emma's unique gift for interpretation as well as her reverence for the songs. 

She has been likened to Joan Baez and Cat Power, and even made US Rolling Stone's list of 15 of the best Bob Dylan covers, alongside Sonic Youth, The Roots and The White Stripes. German Rolling Stone went so far as to describe the singer as "Mrs Tambourine Woman".

Today, for the first time, the globally acclaimed album goes digital. 

"After a hugely successful old school album release that honoured my love of vinyl, cassettes and good old fashioned compact discs, I am delighted to be working with Double Drummer to take Blonde on the Tracks digital.

"It's extremely rare for musicians to withhold their songs from streaming services, but given that I lost my touring job at the beginning of the year due to COVID, I wanted to see if music lovers still bought albums. And it turns out they do. I wouldn't have had a Top 10 ARIA album if they didn't." – Emma Swift

Double Drummer’s Ed Prescott says “This record is easily one of my 10 favourite albums of the year and I’m honoured that Emma has chosen to work with us to bring it into the digital realm. Her re-interpretations are stunning – she takes the songs into a totally new space that’s wholly unique to her, while still retaining all the integrity, richness and depth of the source material.”

The new digital version of the album will be a Deluxe Edition, featuring three additional live bonus tracks. These tracks were recorded in Nashville, TN at Blackbird Studio in September 2020. British Alternative rock legend Robyn Hitchcock plays guitar on the recordings and Australian musician Ryan Brewer is on piano.