Better in Blak

Better in Blak is the debut studio album by Australian singer-songwriter Thelma Plum, released on 7 July 2019 through Warner Music Australia.

For the title track, see Better in Blak (song).

Better in Blak
Studio album by
Thelma Plum
Released12 July 2019 (2019-07-12)
Length36:58
LabelWarner Music Australia
Producer
Thelma Plum chronology
Monsters
(2014)		 Better in Blak
(2019)		 Meanjin
(2022)
Singles from Better in Blak
  1. "Clumsy Love"
    Released: 13 July 2018
  2. "Not Angry Anymore"
    Released: 1 February 2019
  3. "Better in Blak"
    Released: 26 April 2019

Better in Blak achieved commercial success, peaking at number 4 on the ARIA Albums Chart, and winning two awards: Best Cover Art at the 2019 ARIA Music Awards and Album of the Year at the 2020 Queensland Music Awards.

An anniversary edition featuring previously unreleased tracks was released on 6 November 2020.

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
The Newcastle Herald[1]

Better in Blak received critical acclaim.[2]

Josh Leeson of The Newcastle Herald wrote: "Emotional, and unapologetically honest, the Indigenous artist addresses racism, sexism and her broken heart", adding, "Plum's voice is placed at the forefront of the mix, allowing the sparse indie-folk instrumentation to provide casual direction."[1]

Al Newstead from Triple J wrote that Better in Blak is "an album of healing, [and] transforming the pain and sadness of a dark few years into a courageous, self-assured debut album."[3]

Thomas Bleach described the album as "a collection of hard-hitting and thought invoking [sic] moments", and "one of the most impressive debuts of the year".[4] He also wrote that Better in Blak "embodies the different sides of her artistry in an honest and endearing way."[4]

Track listing
Better in Blak track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Clumsy Love"Thelma Plum3:07
2."Don't Let a Good Girl Down"
2:54
3."Love and War" (featuring David Le'aupepe)
  • Plum
  • Ross James
  • Le'aupepe
3:28
4."Not Angry Anymore"
  • Plum
  • Burnett
  • Horton
3:23
5."Homecoming Queen"
  • Plum
  • Burnett
  • Horton
3:51
6."Better in Blak"
  • Plum
  • Burnett
  • Horton
3:12
7."Woke Blokes"
  • Plum
  • Burnett
  • Horton
2:34
8."Nick Cave"
  • Plum
  • Burnett
2:45
9."Thulumaay Gii"
  • Plum
  • Burnett
  • Horton
2:50
10."Ugly"
  • Plum
  • Burnett
  • Horton
3:07
11."Do You Ever Get So Sad You Can't Breathe"Plum2:17
12."Made for You"
3:30
Total length:36:58
Better in Blak anniversary edition track listing
No.TitleLength
13."Body Do the Talking"2:26
14."Clumsy Love" (St South remix)2:48
15."Better in Blak" (Antony & Cleopatra remix)3:48
16."Homecoming Queen" (Alice Ivy remix)4:28
17."Clumsy Love" (Acoustic version)3:06
18."Better in Blak" (piano version)2:44
Total length:56:18

Charts

Weekly charts
Weekly chart performance for Better in Blak
Chart (2019) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[5] 4

Year-end charts
2019 year-end chart performance for Better in Blak
Chart (2019) Position
Australian Artist Albums (ARIA)[6] 46
2020 year-end chart performance for Better in Blak
Chart (2020) Position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[7] 87

Certifications
Certifications and sales for Better in Blak
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[8] Gold 35,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history
Release history and formats for Better in Blak
Region Date Format Edition Label Catalogue Ref
Various 12 July 2019
Standard Warner Music Australia 5419704880 [9][10][11]
6 November 2020
  • Digital download
  • streaming
 Anniversary Edition Not applicable [12]
Australia 12 November 2020 LP 5419708255 [13]

Awards and nominations

ARIA Music Awards
Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref.
2019 Better in Blak Album of the Year Nominated [14][15]
Best Cover Art[lower-alpha 1] Won
Best Female Artist Nominated
Best Pop Release
Breakthrough Artist

Australian Music Prize
Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref.
2019 Better in Blak Album of the Year Nominated [16]

J Awards
Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref.
2019 Better in Blak Australian Album of the Year Nominated [17]

National Indigenous Music Awards
Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref.
2019 Better in Blak Album of the Year Nominated [18][19]

Queensland Music Awards
Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref.
2020 Better in Blak Album of the Year Won [20]

Notes
  1. Plum was nominated for Best Cover Art for Emilie Pfitzner's artwork design.[15]

References
  1. Leeson, Josh (16 June 2019). "Review: Better in Blak – Thelma Plum – 4 stars". The Newcastle Herald. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  2. Mack, Emmy (4 March 2020). "Thelma Plum & the Jungle Giants lead 2020 Queensland Music Awards winners". Music Feeds. Archived from the original on 21 March 2020. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
  3. Newstead, Al (11 June 2019). "Better in Blak: Thelma Plum transforms trauma into triumph on her healing debut album". Triple J. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  4. Bleach, Thomas (11 July 2019). "Album Review: Thelma Plum – Better in Blak". Thomas Bleach. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  5. "Australiancharts.com – Thelma Plum – Better in Blak". Hung Medien. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
  6. "Australian Artist (ARIA) End of Year Albums Chart 2019". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
  7. "ARIA Top 100 Albums for 2020". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
  8. "ARIA TITLE ACCREDITATIONS REPORT For Album Titles Reaching a New Accreditation Level between 1-01-2023 and 30-09-2023" (PDF). ARIA. 30 September 2023. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
  9. "Better in Blak". JB Hi-Fi. 12 July 2019. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  10. "Better in Blak (Vinyl)". JB Hi-Fi. 12 July 2019. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  11. "Better in Blak by Thelma Plum on Apple Music". Apple Music. 12 July 2019. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  12. "Better in Blak (Anniversary Edition) by Thelma Plum on Apple Music". Apple Music. 6 November 2020. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  13. "Better in Blak (Anniversary Edition LP)". JB Hi-Fi. 6 November 2020. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  14. "ARIA Awards: 2019 ARIA Awards Nominated Artists Revealed". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). 10 October 2019. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  15. "ARIA Awards: 2019 Fine Arts & Artisan Winners Announced". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). 10 October 2019. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  16. Boulton, Martin (6 March 2020). "AMP winner Sampa The Great creates history". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
  17. "J Awards: 2019". Triple J. 2019. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
  18. "National Indigenous Music Awards unveils 2019 Nominations". National Indigenous Music Awards. July 2019. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  19. "Record Breaking Crowd for the 2019 National Indigenous Music Awards!". National Indigenous Music Awards. 13 August 2019. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
  20. "Past Winners 2020". Queensland Music Awards. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
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