If you know anything at all about Australian music, of course, you already know who Adalita is. You know her from Magic Dirt, who for nearly two decades have been one of Australia's most respected and influential bands.

Adalita is her first solo record, a collection of ten songs that captures her at her most raw and unaffected. It showcases the breadth of her songwriting talents, from the quiet introspection of songs like Perfection and The Repairer through the more rocking Jewel Thief and Goin Down to the cryptically-titled and evocative instrumental Lassa Hanta. The music isn't so much a radical departure from Magic Dirt as it is a distillation of everything that band represents, with the layers of instrumentation stripped away, leaving only the bare bones of the songs themselves. And those songs are stark and heartfelt. They're startlingly direct at times. They're austere and beautiful and powerful.