Laura Hill Is Holding Space

Laura Hill has a talent for narrative. She is a storyteller - all the best musicians are.

The award-winning Adelaide-based singer-songwriter is gearing up to release her latest single, Space for You, a meditation on vulnerability and connection. A fitting ornament for this romantic time of year.

An enchanting blend of folk, soul, and pop, Space For You is a sensual, pulsing track. Laura Hill's voice is angelic, gently acrobatic, and deeply romantic. It's the perfect song to set your Valentine's Day ablaze. In fact, when you listen to Space For You, every day is Valentine's Day.

Hill clearly prioritises lyricism in her work. Through words, she crafts character and underlines raw emotion in her music. Through words, her songs become conversational, relatable.

As a big fan of words in general - whether in the form of songs or volumes - Hill has curated her top five favourite books - ones that are raw and vulnerable, in a similar vein to her music.

“Books tend to find me,” she says. “A bit like music, I guess you find it when you need it."

1.  Women Living Deliciously by Florence Given

I’m a sucker for a pretty-looking coffee table book. I stumbled across this little gem over the holiday period in a seaside  book store (in Port Elliot). A light-hearted book that wants us girls to fall in love with our lives. It uncovers the sense of awe and wonder that has been buried by the layers of shame, perfectionism, and self-objectification girls experience, and breaks down barriers that put us there. Goes well with a glass of wine! 

2. Living With A Creative Mind by Jeffrey Robert Crabtree and Julie Crabtree

I get told I’m a little weird quite a bit. This read is almost like a survival guide/oxygen tank for anyone trying to understand the creative process and how creative people act, think, and behave.  

3. A Million Little Pieces by James Frey 

I came across this book abandoned in a campground in Mt Field in Tasmania. It was snowing and it was left by the fire in a stone hut that leads into the national park.  It vividly recounts the author’s struggles with addiction and his journey to recovery, detailing the physical and emotional challenges he faced while residing in a rehabilitation facility. A very raw and vulnerable read. I had to keep getting new batteries for my head lamp because of this little find. 

4. The Mindful Art of Wild Swimming by Tessa Wardley

I’m obsessed with water. Swimming, surfing, snorkeling - that is my jam. This little coffee table pearler reconnects the physical and spiritual cycles of life to the changing seasons and flow of wild waters worldwide and leads the reader on a mindful journey through the natural underwater world. It’s part of a series. 

5. The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein

This is known as a kids book. But it had me close to tears. The point of the book is to show kids what being selfish results in. A book we could all benefit from, especially the way the world is heading. 

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Space for You will be released on all streaming platforms this Valentine’s Day. Join Laura Hill and her band for the Space for You single launch at Big Easy Radio, Friday 28th February.