Neo Soul Icon Jill Scott Announces First Ever Australian Tour

One of the most influential figures in the world of neo-soul, Jill Scott, has announced her first ever Australian tour for later this year. She'll bring her ten-piece band down under for shows in Perth. Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane in November.

Speaking with theMusic.com.au last week, Scott said she was overjoyed at the prospect of visiting our country, though admitted she wasn't aware she had much of a fan base down here.

“I can't wait. I've never been, I cannot wait to see what my eyes see, I can't wait to smell, I can't wait to touch. I'm very excited; this is a big deal for me.

“I just got familiar when I got on twitter and I started receiving tweets from Aussies and I'm like 'well hello! Hi!'. I spoke to my partner and my agent and said 'I have to go to Australia' and I just waited until they said that we got it.”

Her first LP, 2000's Who Is Jill Scott? Words and Sounds Vol. 1 was an enormous success and remains one of the key releases in the neo-soul genre and has sold millions of copies worldwide.

She has released three more studio albums since then, each of which has seen her grow more and more as a forward-thinking songwriter and her most recent one, 2011's The Light Of The Sun saw her finally snatch the number one position on the Billboard charts.

Last week she revealed to us that she has not one but two new LPs on the boil at the moment.

“Recently I just finished working on a lullaby album. It's a medicinal record, it's meant for people who have insomnia – but it's not your traditional lullabies; it's incredible musicianship and lyrics that are intended to inspire you in your reset. It's almost like deprogramming the negative things that occur in life and the negative things that are said about you as a person.”

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“The main record will be music that can be played on the radio and music you can bop your head to or make love to or have dinner parties to, there's definitely a market for that and I'm open to it. But, outside of it, there are different types of music that I want to, that I have to touch. Music for a purpose.”

“I'm making conscious decisions, but I'm also going by my spirit what feels right to me, what feels genuine, feels true, what feels good.”

Her distinctly measured pace of releasing albums is to continue, meaning we probably won't see any new material from her before the Australian shows.

“My plan is to release two albums within my calendar year; I started in April, so for me the time is up in April [2014]. I'll release the first record around November/December and the other one in [northern] Spring.

“I don't want the lullaby album to be taken lightly. This is phenomenal music, phenomenal lyrics and it's so good for you – it's so good for you.”

Scott plays the following dates around the nation this November - tickets are on sale from 9am on Tuesday 18 June: