In The Blood

Gina Williams & Guy Ghouse's new album, Kalyakoorl, is something of a revelation. Written entirely in Williams' learned Noongar language, it's an album of deep sense of place and time, and its success is something of a surprise. “It's just crazy at the moment,” Williams admits. “We had no idea it would take off like this. I'm used to being under the radar, and now with this... it's just amazing. We just came back from shows over east and... oh,” Williams says. “We had grown men come up to us and tell us how much the music meant to them, and then they would just start crying. The music seems to have this power and this emotional connection. For me it's always been personal, but we're just amazed at how many people have taken it and run with it. It's amazing.”

The story begins with Williams' attempt to connect with her heritage. “I was adopted when I was young, so I grew up not really knowing who I was. I spent many, many years trying to work that out, and where my family comes from and where I come from. Learning the language, I guess, just ended up being a big part of that because language is so important to the culture and the traditions. Really, what language does is give it a context; it ties everything together. That's why it was so important for me to learn, because it gives me a way to relate to my ancestors. The other thing is that it's just such a rare language now. Overall, there's 240 people left who speak Noongar in Australia. It's really, really vulnerable; every time an elder dies there's a big worry because we lose so much of the push for the language. So the other reason for making Kalyakoorl was to raise awareness about Noongar and other Aboriginal languages, and about how important it is to be aware of them and keep them going. And I hope the album's done that.

“It was actually Guy who got me into it. He kept telling me, 'Gina, you've got to do native songs, you have to,' and I never took it too seriously. But once we got into it it just worked. Like the title track, Kalyakoorl, I first heard when I was hanging the washing out,” she laughs. “Guy had sent me some chords, and I rushed in the house to record the lyrics before I forgot them. I sent it to Guy and within an hour he had built the music around it. That's just how it worked. We got to the point where Guy would be like, 'Here, listen to this,' and the words would just come.”