“Imogen Clark’s *Choking on Fuel* is a raw, high-octane return to the essentials—an album that strips everything back while turning the volume all the way up. After a whirlwind year of global touring alongside legends like Robyn Hitchcock, Steve Poltz, and BOWEN * YOUNG, the Nashville-by-way-of-Sydney artist has distilled the sweat, soul, and spirit of her live show into a collection of songs that hit just as hard from speakers as they do from the stage. With her acoustic guitar in hand and a powerhouse voice that can devastate or uplift in a single breath, Imogen delivers a body of work that’s fearless in its vulnerability and magnetic in its execution. This is Imogen Clark, unfiltered and on fire” – Mundane Mag ARIA nominated singer-songwriter Imogen Clark calls Nashville home, but earned her stripes as a high-schooler playing bars in her native Western Sydney. Touring with Shania Twain, Steve Poltz and BOWEN * YOUNG, collaborating with Colin Hay and Jim Lauderdale and many more, Imogen has earned the respect of her heroes and peers through her deeply personal storytelling, roof-raising voice and leave it all out on the field live energy. Her witty, melodic songwriting – praised in the pages of The New York Times and Rolling Stone – crosses generations and genres, with influences from Joni Mitchell to Jason Isbell, Led Zeppelin to Taylor Swift. After a breakneck year in 2024 of non-stop touring, Imogen’s new album Choking on Fuel (which rose to #10 on the Australian ARIA Country Albums chart) sees her returning to her roots. Armed with an acoustic guitar, Imogen is rolling out a record that captures the intensity, vulnerability, musical dexterity and vocal power that characterizes her compelling live performances. “I spent last year on the road around the world, playing headline shows but also touring with Robyn Hitchcock, Steve Poltz, BOWEN * YOUNG and Andrew Farriss”, Imogen explains. “So many people have messaged me or commented on my social media to say that they would love to have an album that captured the spirit of what I do live, and that’s what this is”. Hitting #14 on the Australian Country Charts and scoring an ARIA Award nomination for ‘Best Country Album’, the album puts Imogen’s rich, devastating vocals front and center, foregrounding her deft, cutting lyrics and affecting melodies. A mix of co-writes and purely self-penned songs, the record runs the emotional gamut from the wry, incendiary All Hard Feelings (with 70s style backing vocals from co-writers Sinead Burgess and Blake O’Connor, who also tears up a blistering slide guitar solo), a high-octane harmonica solo on The Art of Getting Through from the legendary Mickey Raphael, the sexy bluegrass raveup of Sebastian (where Imogen is backed by Aussie grassers Midnight Chicken) to the raw, powerful anthem The Last of Me (with My Morning Jacket’s Bo Koster on propulsive piano), the road not taken nightmare of Squinters (a co-write with Steve Poltz powered by Bryan Sutton’s nuanced acoustic guitar) to the delicate, timeless wisdom of If Your Heart Never Breaks (featuring gorgeous harmonies from co-writer Jim Lauderdale and a dexterous and beautiful guitar from the iconic Tommy Emmanuel). An unexpected closing note comes with a radical reinterpretation of the classic Sheryl Crow / Jeff Trott anthem ‘If It Makes You Happy’, reimagined as a vulnerable duet with Imogen’s tourmate and Americana UK Live Act of the Year Kezia Gill. Aussie fans will expect to see it on the setlist when Imogen and Kezia head down under for a co-headline tour in October. “I’ve gotten to know and write with Jeff Trott since I’ve been living in Nashville,” Imogen explains. “After hearing him explain how he began writing this song late one night on the piano, it sparked the idea of approaching the song from that point of view. Having Kez sing it with me added so much extra magic to this version of one of my all-time favorite songs”.