"I've come up for air after years underground, I've still got the taste of dirt in my mouth," sings Nashville-based Emma Swift on her new single "No Happy Endings", perfectly setting the scene for her long-awaited second studio album The Resurrection Game, announced today for release in September.

Written in the wake of a terrible mental health episode that left her hospitalised over a period of several weeks, The Resurrection Game finds the Sydney-born singer/songwriter reckoning with the crisis and its fallout – though perhaps not in the way one might expect. Working with producer Jordan Lehning (Kacey Musgraves, Caitlin Rose) at studios in Nashville and on the UK's Isle of Wight, the songs blossomed into lush mini-melodramas, delivered with wry humour and wisdom hard-won.

“I am a big believer in the redemptive power of art,” says Swift. “Though many of these songs come from a an immensely difficult time in my life, what I’m trying to do here is to alchemize the experience. To make the brutal become beautiful.” 

On the subject of the album, she adds:

“I believe that there is a space for songs about real pain. In this moment in time, we live in a world where we’re encouraged to anesthetize what ails us by any means possible. But this record is more about spending time with your sadness, of leaning into that sorrow and facing it head-on. Hard times are a part of the seasons of any person’s life. You don’t have to have an acute mental health crisis to understand this. Everyone experiences grief, pain, tremendous suffering at one time or another. I wouldn’t want to live through that particular season again, but I feel duty-bound to honor it. And so I have.”

Listen to "No Happy Endings" below:

The Resurrection Game is out on 12 September via Tiny Ghost Records. Pre-order here. See the tracklisting below:

1. Nothing and Forever
2. The Resurrection Game
3. No Happy Endings
4. Going Where The Lonely Go
5. Beautiful Ruins
6. Catholic Girls Are Easy
7. Impossible Air
8. How To Be Small
9. For You and Oblivion
10. Signing Off With Love

From July through early September, Swift will tour the US with a run of dates organized in collaboration with the Undertow community, including intimate living room and other fan-hosted shows alongside a select few club dates. Tickets are very limited for some shows, and the venues are not revealed to the public. Click here for the full list of cities that Swift will visit.