Jackie Marshall Returns With The Last of the Human Troubadours
Brisbane singer-songwriter Jackie Marshall has announced her fifth album, The Last of the Human Troubadours, a deeply reflective collection that explores creativity, resilience and what it means to remain human in an increasingly artificial world.
The new record reunites Marshall with long-time collaborator Chris Pickering and introduces collaborations with the acclaimed Black Square Quartet, who perform new arrangements by composer Robert Davidson.
The album’s title track imagines the fate of the world’s final organically formed travelling songwriter, reflecting on the role of artists in an age increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence while offering a hopeful vision that creativity and the human spirit will ultimately endure.
Across the album, Marshall tackles themes of perseverance and finding optimism in uncertain times through songs including Nobody Tell the Birds, Chop Wood Carry Water and The Next Right Thing. Other highlights include I Am Heard, written in honour of Aunty Delmae Barton, an interpretation of Joni Mitchell’s Nathan La Franeer, the traditional folk standard The Parting Glass, and a musical setting of a poem by celebrated Slovenian writer Uroš Zupan.
The album closes with Marshall’s interpretation of the Seikilos Epitaph, the oldest surviving complete musical composition in the Western canon. Dating back almost 2,000 years, its enduring message – “While you live, shine, hold no grief at all” – provides a fitting conclusion to a record centred on hope and humanity.
Marshall has built a reputation as one of Australia’s most distinctive independent artists, moving effortlessly between folk, alt-country, rock and contemporary art music. Her debut album, Fight n’ Flight, was shortlisted for the Australian Music Prize, and she has toured with Missy Higgins while also performing alongside Colin Hay.
Beyond music, Marshall is also an actor, poet and illustrator, with a body of work that reflects her reputation as a fearless storyteller and genre-defying creative.
The release will be accompanied by a concert series featuring Marshall, Pickering and the Black Square Quartet, bringing Davidson’s string arrangements to the stage in a live celebration of the album.
Founded in 2018, the Black Square Quartet has become known for championing contemporary Australian music and collaborating with artists across classical, jazz and alternative music, making the ensemble a natural fit for Marshall’s latest creative venture.
With The Last of the Human Troubadours, Marshall continues to carve out her own path, delivering an album that asks big questions about art, technology and connection while remaining grounded in heartfelt songwriting.