A Quick Chat WIth Archie Tulk

Archie Tulk explores the ache of being far from the people you love on ‘I Want To’, a sweeping art-pop ballad that blends orchestral arrangements, jazz influences, and deeply personal storytelling. The Eora/Sydney-based artist and composer pairs rich baritone vocals with delicate strings, shimmering keys, and an ethereal children's choir, capturing the helplessness of wanting to be there for someone when you can't. Drawing on his background in classical composition, Archie brings an ambitious yet deeply human touch to the track, offering a final glimpse of his debut album Human Noise, out November 27. We caught up with Archie Tulk to talk about I Want To, the making of the album, and what's next.

Can you tell us what your new single ‘I Want To’ means to you, and what you hope listeners take away from it?

I Want To is about the pain of being absent from the people you love, and the helplessness of not being able to care for them when they need you most. It was written whilst I was living overseas and had to support friends and family members through various hardships whilst not being able to be physically present for them.

Your music brings together elements of art-pop, jazz and orchestral composition. How have these different influences shaped your sound?

Yeah I feel like these styles have definitely had an impact on my sound. Art-pop artists I’ve been fascinated with over the last few years and tried to learn from include Björk, Rufus Wainwright and Ichiko Aoba, such beautiful music. And on the jazz side I’ve been super inspired by the arrangements in the works of artists like Marvin Gaye, João Gilberto and George Benson. In terms of the orchestral influence, I love the French composers like Messiaen and Poulenc, and was myself writing a lot classical music over the last few years and it felt a really natural progression to bring that sound into my songs.

‘I Want To’ features parts from a children's choir. How did this come together, and what did you want for them to bring to the song?

It was a really wild idea I had, but I really knew I wanted to end the song with a children’s choir, and definitely a real one not just a sample. It was super important to me that they were children as well, to get that fragile ethereal tone. I composed the part and then I went looking for any choirs that would be down for it. Eventually I organised a recording with Koorschool Midden-Gelderland, a choir from the Netherlands.

Your debut album ‘Human Noise’ arrives on November 27. What can listeners expect from the record, and how does it reflect where you are creatively?

My debut album ‘Human Noise’ drops on November 27. It’s a genre-blurring album, sitting in the art-pop space, and through a 9 track movementy-style sequence it explores longing, distance and disconnection. It features a richly orchestrated sound world, and it was really important to me that the music was all recorded by real people on real instruments, not using electronic samples or sound libraries. You can hear the performers' breaths, personalities, and imperfections and I hope it feels very human to listen to.

What does your creative process look like, from the initial idea through to recording?

Depends on the song, but a lot of the time I start working out the melody and the chords on the piano, then I create the arrangement based on the piano harmony. I try to make the other instruments like saxophone and violin dovetail in and out of eachother so the texture dosen’t become too thick and overwhelming for the listener.

You've composed music for orchestras, opera and choirs. How does your approach to writing for these settings differ from creating your own music?

I think the main difference for me is that when songwriting, I use my own lyrics and write about real experiences. Sometimes when writing classical music you are asked to write about more abstract concepts, which is also interesting but at times it has felt for me like a less personal artistic expression.

If you could collaborate with any artist, past or present, who would it be and why?

Ichiko Aoba, would love to write something with her / arrange one of her songs.

Winter or summer, and why?

Summer definitely. I can’t stand winter.

What's next for you following the release of ‘Human Noise’?

I have a release show in Sydney on November 25, playing with a band/orchestra. Looking to continue playing the music through 2027, whilst also working on my next project.

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