“Seeing Marliya on stage performing Spinifex Gum is one of those rare musical pleasures in life that can’t really be put into words, it just has to be experienced. This young, all-female, all-Indigenous choir is able to move audiences in a way that is devastatingly joyful. Through the power and beauty of their collective voice we are confronted, challenged, and ultimately uplifted. In my 20 years touring the world I have never seen a group who can transform a room in quite the same way as these young singers can. That they hail from Cairns and are performing there as part of the Women of the World Festival is something that should be truly celebrated.” – Felix Riebl (The Cat Empire)

Spinifex Gum Sidney Myer Music Bowl

A performance of Spinifex Gum at Sidney Myer Music Bowl. Photo supplied

The spinifex. A perennial plant whose gum is used by Aboriginal cultures as a glue in creating tools, ornaments and beads, and in repair. So, Spinifex Gum is a not inappropriate name for the collaborative production between the Cairns-based Marliya Choir and Felix Riebl and Ollie McGill of Cat Empire fame.

Marliya is a...