Julia Jacklin has released new single “If I Had The Hand Of God.” The track is off the artist’s forthcoming album The Gem, available September 25th via 4AD (Aldous Harding, The National). The track was written about a surreal trip to Nashville, and is a meditation on the life of a touring musician and the importance (or unimportance) of legacy. The Gem was produced by Jacklin and Robert Muinos and recorded entirely in Melbourne. Jacklin will be touring North America, UK and Europe beginning October 2026 and throughout 2027.

When Jacklin first moved to Melbourne from Sydney in 2017, she discovered a little bar on a back street in Collingwood, where bands pushed dining tables to the side and set up in a corner on the floor. She didn’t know anyone in town but knew she wanted to make the city her home, so she started hanging out there, forcing herself out of her comfort zone. The pub was named The Gem.

In 2025 Jacklin called up an old drinking buddy Robert Muinos, owner of Rat Shack studios, which is located above The Gem, and brought in friends Jacob Diamond (guitar), Mimi Gilbert (bass), and Jess Elwood (drums). Recording happened in close quarters, in converted hotel room accommodation upstairs at the pub. As it was a residential bar, they couldn’t record late into the night for fear of bothering the neighbour and sound bleed was a glorious constraint: foot traffic to the hairdresser and the tattoo parlour next door, loud music from the bands and the kitchen crew downstairs. If anyone needed a break from the sessions, they would venture downstairs and watch a band playing. Jacklin and the band even played two unannounced shows there to try out the songs before recording them.

They thought they’d smash out the record in two weeks, like she’d always done, but that wasn’t the case. In fact, it took nearly a year of tinkering to arrive at something Jacklin could get behind. “The Gem felt like a metaphor for the whole process, because a lot of it did feel like digging. I felt like I was doing it almost in the dark, just trusting I was going to find something.” It conjures images of excavation, of reinvention, of trusting your instincts and surrounding yourself with the people and things that make life worthwhile. It’s a soaring document of the songwriter’s journey back to herself.

The band got matching tattoos on the last day of The Gem sessions: a neat little circle to represent an opal – Jacklin’s favourite gemstone. Fittingly, one of the bartenders at The Gem did it. “It did really feel like we’d done something special together. And I think as a group, it felt important to commemorate it. I’m glad we all have these little gems on us.”

Julia Jacklin
The Gem
4AD
Tracklisting:

1. Brand New
2. God Sometimes
3. If I Had The Hand Of God
4. The Hardest Thing
5. Angel Vision
6. Real Life
7. Get Away From Me (I Think I’ll Love You Soon)
8. You Turned On The Tap
9. Walk On Me
10. I Wish [feat. The Maes]

Julia Jacklin 2026-2027 Live Dates

October 20 – SAN DIEGO, CA, USA – The Observatory North Park

October 22 – LOS ANGELES, CA, USA – The Wiltern

October 23 – SAN FRANCISCO, CA, USA – The Castro Theatre **SOLD OUT**

October 24 – SAN FRANCISCO, CA, USA – The Castro Theatre

October 26 – PORTLAND, OR, USA – Crystal Ballroom

October 27 – VANCOUVER, CANADA – Commodore Ballroom **SOLD OUT**

October 28 – SEATTLE, WA, USA – The Moore Theatre

October 30 – SALT LAKE CITY, UT, USA – Metro Music Hall

October 31 – DENVER, CO, USA – Gothic Theatre

November 2 – DALLAS, TX, USA – Studio at Bomb Factory

November 3 – AUSTIN, TX, USA – Radio/East

November 4 – HOUSTON, TX, USA – White Oak Music Hall (Downstairs)

November 6 – ATLANTA, GA, USA – Variety Playhouse

November 7 – NASHVILLE, TN, USA – Brooklyn Bowl

November 9 – CARRBORO, NC, USA – Cat’s Cradle

November 10 – WASHINGTON, D.C., USA – Lincoln Theatre

November 11 – PITTSBURGH, PA, USA – Mr. Small’s Theatre

November 13 – MINNEAPOLIS, MN, USA – First Avenue

November 14 – CHICAGO, IL, USA – The Riviera Theatre

November 15 – TORONTO, CANADA – Danforth Music Hall

November 17 – MONTREAL, CANADA – Théâtre Beanfield

November 19 – BROOKLYN, NY, USA – Brooklyn Paramount

November 20 – BOSTON, MA, USA – Royale

November 21 – PHILADELPHA, PA, USA – Union Transfer

November 30 – LIVERPOOL, UK – Jacaranda [rescheduled solo in-store show + signing]

December 1 – NOTTINGHAM, UK – Rough Trade [rescheduled solo in-store show + signing]

2027

February 13 – BIRMINGHAM, UK – Town Hall

February 14 – MANCHESTER, UK – Albert Hall

February 15 – DUBLIN, IRELAND – National Stadium

February 17 – GLASGOW, UK – Barrowland Ballroom

February 18 – BRISTOL, UK – Beacon

February 19 – LONDON, UK – Eventim Apollo

February 21 – BRUSSELS, BELGIUM – Le Botanique

February 22 – BERLIN, GERMANY – Festsaal Kreuzberg

February 23 – HAMBURG, GERMANY – Kent Club

February 24 – COPENHAGEN, DENMARK – DR Koncerthuset

February 26 – AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS – Paradiso

February 27 – PARIS, FRANCE – Cabaret Sauvage

March 1 – BARCELONA, SPAIN – La [2] de Apolo

March 2 – MADRID, SPAIN – Sala Mon Live

March 3 – LISBON, PORTUGAL – LAV

Pre-order The Gem by Julia Jacklin HERE