IT was at the 2021 Gum Ball music festival in the Hunter Valley that Tori Forsyth chose to unveil her new rock direction.
She was in front of an appreciative audience. Many who watched the mid-afternoon set had followed the Central Coast-raised singer-songwriter since she arrived on the national music scene with her gothic-country EP Black Bird in 2015.
Crouching down on her knees and belting out the punky chorus of "you've gonna save yourself" from her song All For You, Forsyth was channelling the quintessential '90s alternative-rock frontwoman.
It was enthralling spectacle. And it certainly whet the appetite for the release two weeks later of Forsyth's long-awaited second album Provlépseis and its subsequent tour.
However, COVID-19 lockdowns ensured the tour never happened.
It would be nearly two years after Gum Ball before Forsyth would perform again at the 2023 Tamworth Country Music Festival.
By that time the buzz that Provlépseis was building prior to the pandemic had evaporated. Forsyth's desire to continue a career in music was also running dry.
"Not long after the release I was in a place where I didn't know if I could do that again?," Forsyth tells Weekender from her home in the hinterland of Queensland's Sunshine Coast.
"I didn't think I had much to give music anymore.
"It really took it out of me, and a lot of musicians, to be at a place of not knowing what the future looked like and trying to chug through it.
"It was a very bizarre time.
"I thought I was going to give it up and quit and find something else to do."
For someone who'd spent more than a decade developing their craft and had enjoyed national acclaim through her 2018 Golden Guitar-nominated debut album Dawn Of The Dark, it would have been a disappointing end to a promising career.
Just as Forsyth was preparing to pack away the guitar, the songs flowed back.
"I gave myself over to it, and that was the moment I picked up my guitar and wrote an album," she says.
"It was a freeing experience. I came to a place where I was just doing it from the love of doing it again, rather than what I think or the version of me who thought I needed to create something for a particular purpose."
Those songs marked Forsyth's return to alt-country. But the gothic melancholy of Dawn Of The Dark had lifted.
Those songs became Forsyth's third album, All We Have Is Who We Are.
"I joke I wanna do a Tool covers album," Forsyth says when asked about leaving rock and returning to alt-country.
"I love music. I love every part of music and I love the way it makes me feel when I'm creating it.
"I believe I have a country soul, so I don't think I can ever stray too far from it.
"I don't believe Provlépseis was that big a step away from it. There were definitely elements of the previous record in that.
"At the end of the day I'm a songwriter and I'm very influenced by my surroundings. I'm living back in the country, so it's inevitable I would create another country record."
Even before its release on Friday the album has seen Forsyth welcomed back into the country music fraternity with open arms.
The album's lead single Sometimes - a duet with alt-country star and producer Shane Nicholson - won best country song at the Queensland Music Awards two weeks ago.
Kasey Chambers also joined Forsyth on the second single Good Enough, which has quickly become one of her most popular songs on Spotify.
Where she once dived into the darkness on songs like Broke Machine or Redundant, All We Have Is Who We Are closes with Happy where Forsyth sings with clarity that, "The dream isn't the dream I thought it would be/ The only dream now is to be happy".
Happy is the mission statement for the entire album.
"The most common theme of the record is growth and what that has looked like for me," she says.
"Historically a lot of my songs and records were quite dark and I had this weird belief that I had to be sad to be able to create anything worth doing.
"I think that's quite common for artists, especially when they start. During that period of wanting to quit, I was doing a lot of work on myself, just learning about health and wellness and about myself and the way I operate.
"It changed my life."
The changes the 28-year-old has made to her health and lifestyle are central to her more positive outlook.
In 2018 Forsyth was diagnosed with endometriosis and underwent surgery. She also battled chronic fatigue, mental health issues, sciatic and abdominal pain and poor immunity.
Understandably her health issues wore her down.
After being dissatisfied with medical advice she slowly regained control of her health through a dedicated regime of healthier eating and exercise.
She immersed herself in podcasts and read widely on well-being, and later studied and obtained certificate III and IV in fitness and a certificate IV in nutrition.
Forsyth's official website also features regular blogs where she updates fans about her life and continuing journey.
She says she wanted All We Have Is Who We Are to reflect the positive changes she's made in her life.
"There's a whole other world outside of where you are," she says.
"It's an important thing to note, particularly in mental health where you're at a low point and you don't think there is another version of reality on the other side of it.
"It's really important for me to stress that there is. It does get easier and things do get better and it might just be one choice a day to get there.
"We can get quite dark and if you don't have the ability to see the other side it can get quite scary, but there is another side.
"My journey through that is through these songs."
Another important part of Forsyth's journey has been developing a life and career outside of music.
Her parents John and Roz Forsyth founded the Australian Equine Institute at Tuggerah, after they met on the set of hit TV show Gladiators back in the '90s.
John, who came from a background in marital arts and working as a bodyguard, was tasked with finding contestants for Gladiators.
It was there that he met Roz, a former Commonwealth-level swimmer, state netballer and middleweight champion at the Australian Natural Bodybuilding Federation.
Roz was selected as a gladiator for season three of the TV show where she competed under the name Electra.
The Australian Equine Institute became a highly successful business in horse education and training and in 2019 the family made the move to the Sunshine Coast and opened their western show horse business VM Quarter Horses.
Forsyth has followed her parents into the family business and during the pandemic she developed her own Airbnb property that specialised in songwriting and wellness retreats.
Belladonna opened in March 2021 and the Forsyths sold the business 18 months later when her music career again became too hectic.
However, the lessons Forsyth learnt from the experience have been vital in continuing her music career.
"I would recommend it to anyone, every single musician, that you need to live a life outside of your music," she says.
"There is so much that can come from experiencing every layer of life that then becomes the music.
"I think it's very important. The way my brain is and the way it works, I do need something else to focus on.
"Music can be quite a narrow lens of life, being a musician, being an artist and being the face of that can really narrow your perspective of what reality is, particularly with the way the Meta-verse is growing.
"Having the ability to experience life in a different way, that isn't so focused on yourself has been the most beneficial thing I've done."
All We Have Is Who We Are was released on Friday. Tori Forsyth will perform at the Stag & Hunter Hotel on May 18.
