Emma Donovan & The Putbacks
The Rechabite Hall, 12 February 2023

Emma Donovan is the best kind of storm. One where you’re safely inside but getting totally high on the musical noise and energy swirling around. 

With her kick-ass band The Putbacks, the Indigenous soul singer is a heady combination of power and comfort. 

Local funk and soul outfit Randa and the Soul Kingdom are perfect foils as openers. They’re energetic, fun and in possession of a glaring collection of loud, bright shirts. Their tight set features the kicking “I Do What I Do” and the almost rocky “Slide”. While clean soul is their territory, the group often throw in a little dirt to messy things up – “Gonna Get Love” had touches of glam 70s rock.

From the moment they slide into the classic-sounding “My Goodness”, Emma Donovan & The Putbacks firmly announce their arrival.

Donovan is calm and self-contained on stage yet has this big warm energy and enveloping voice that seems to arrive without drama. It’s fascinating to watch because it’s so unexpected and reaches right around the room.

Their songs are stories of heart and hearth and if there was ever a place to find a home in a song, these might have been it.  

In tribute to the late Ruby Hunter, Donovan performs “Yarian Mitji” in Ngarrindjeri, meaning “what’s my story” in the South Australian language. Even without understanding the words, it sounds poignant and feels personal.

Performing barefoot, Donovan is ever solicitous of the crowd and more than once pays tribute to the land, her local family in attendance and to female Indigenous artists such as Tiddas and Christina Anu for paving the way.

Everyone on stage seems to be constantly beaming and it’s infectious, though at times it feels like a sassy and adoring six-way relationship. The band are unflappably tight and versatile, a brilliantly steady hand beneath their singer. Donovan looks like she is both having a great time and not quite believing she is doing it.

Audiences always love an artist sharing a personal story and once again the singer’s warmth shines through as she talks about her daughter being six going on 26 and considers whether being called a “big woman” is actually an insult. 

Donovan & The Putbacks’ style of soul is more about round shapes than sharp edges but that doesn’t mean they can’t crank it up and rock out in their way, ramping up the intensity with songs such as “Hard Times”, the rolling thunder of “No Woman Left Behind” and the soulful grit of “Out the Door”. “Dawn” is a highlight and like its namesake breaks over us in a wash of sound, to be followed by the soothing roll of “Over Under and Away”.

There is humour in “Leftovers” – “have them on toast the next day and they taste just as good” – that doesn’t feel like she’s just talking about cold pizza. Later, “Black Woman”, a funked-up song about domestic violence, is dedicated to anyone in a difficult relationship.   

At every turn, the set feels full of ebullient joy. Instead of winding into a frenzied finish, the band takes things back down with a trio of more thoughtful numbers. Closing with a song Donovan’s pop wrote in 1972, “Promised Land” has a sweet, country waltz swing. Musical storm resolved, it spins us gently out into the night, ardently satisfied.

Pictured top: Emma Donovan is a heady combination of power and comfort. Photo: Sophie Minissale