Thelma Plum arrived fully formed. The Gamilaraay singer-songwriter from Delungra who grew up in Brisbane and graduated from the Music Industry College here won the inaugural Triple J National Indigenous Unearthed competition in 2012 with her very first uploads. She was 17. In the decade since, she has become one of the most important voices in Australian music — not just for the quality of her songwriting, which is exceptional, but for what she represents and what she says. Her music draws on folk, pop and country traditions to make songs about love, identity, country and belonging that feel genuinely essential. Her EP Meanjin — the First Nations name for Brisbane — is a love letter to this city, written on her balcony during lockdown. That she chose to dedicate it to Brisbane says something about the depth of her connection to this place.