Emma Donovan & The Putbacks partner with Cooking Vinyl Australia on multi-album deal

Cooking Vinyl Australia has signed Melbourne soul outfit Emma Donovan & The Putbacks to an expansive four record deal.

The new deal will be officiated next week with the release of Under The Streets, a compilation of eight tracks plucked from Donovan’s hard drive of recorded works with The Putbacks.

After forming the vocal group Stiff Gins in 1999, Donovan would go on to assert herself as a solo artist in 2004 with the release of Changes, which later led her to join the Black Arm Band Indigenous theatre organisation in 2007.

Donovan formed The Putbacks in 2013 and recorded two full-length albums with the group for Hope Street Recordings: 2014’s Dawn and last year’s acclaimed Crossover, which was nominated for the Australian Music Prize and named Best Independent Soul/R&B Album or EP at the 2021 AIR Awards.

Cooking Vinyl Australia’s co-managing director, Leigh Gruppetta, heralded Donovan as one of Australian music’s most essential voices and said it was an honour to unite with her and the band on the multi-record deal.

“Emma is one of the most important voices in Australian music today, coupled with the prodigious talent of The Putbacks, you have something truly special. We’re humbled to be joining the team,” Gruppetta said.

“This music needs to be heard as far and wide as possible and we’ll leave no stone unturned to help achieve that.”

Donovan noted the significance of signing such an expansive deal with the label.

“This is our time. As a 40-year-old woman and mother, I have been writing, touring, recording and performing songs for close to three decades,” Donovan said.

“It’s an honour to be recognised by Cooking Vinyl Australia who can see how we’ve built and honed our craft over the years and to share this with our fans around the world. I can’t wait to share new music with you, including a very special solo album I’ve been working on.”