Possum Announces Debut Album With Wry Country Gem 'Sorry Bout My Child'
The debut album from Naarm based singer songwriter Kizzy Davies, who records under the name Possum, arrives October 9 as an ambitious collection of interconnected stories set around Paynesville, the East Gippsland fishing town where she grew up. Framed as what Davies jokingly describes as a
"Fish and Chip shop concept album"
The record transforms a familiar Victorian holiday destination into something closer to folk mythology, a place where generations merge, children leave home, and old men disappear into memory. Inspired by her upbringing in Paynesville on Gunaikurnai Country, the album uses a series of lakeside narratives to build a broader story spanning family, mortality, and change.
It's a bold premise, but Possum has always been interested in finding the extraordinary hidden inside the everyday.
The first glimpse of that vision arrives with new single 'Sorry Bout My Child' a warm hearted country tune that masks its darker impulses beneath fiddle flourishes, and an irresistibly singable chorus. Recorded at Melbourne's Sing Sing Studios, the track embraces classic country songwriting traditions while retaining the sharp observational wit that's become one of Davies' signatures.
"I'd been listening in particular to Dolly Parton, Gillian Welch and Freya Josephine Hollick, I wanted to explore the idea of parents not taking responsibility for your bad behaviour, and how that in turn might lead you to do the same"
Her songs often arrive wrapped in deceptively gentle melodies before revealing something stranger and more unsettling beneath the surface. On 'Sorry Bout My Child' that duality feels especially potent.
The musicians surrounding Davies help elevate that balance. The recording features contributions from Vinny Russellof Rufous Whistler, Playlunch's Dylan Knur, Monty Shnier, and pedal steel player Michael Panton, with production handled by Rohan Sforcina and mastering by Lachlan Carrick.
Since emerging with her 2023 EP 'Possum Bitter', Davies has steadily built a reputation across Australia's folk and alt country community, earning support from ABC Country and community radio stations including RRR, PBS, RTRFM and 4ZZZ.
At a time when many artists are encouraged to think in singles and playlists, Possum has delivered something increasingly rare.
In other words, a fish and chip shop concept album that somehow ends up saying something profound about growing up, growing old, and what remains after everyone leaves town.
The album arrives October 9, with a full album launch performance planned in Melbourne featuring string quartet and expanded instrumentation, followed by a regional Victorian tour. If the new single is any indication, Possum's greatest talent may be her ability to turn local history into something universal.