| Better in Blak | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | Thelma Plum |
| Cover: | Better in Blak by Thelma Plum.png |
| Length: | 36:58 |
| Label: | Warner Music Australia |
| Prev Title: | Monsters |
| Prev Year: | 2014 |
| Next Title: | Meanjin |
| Next Year: | 2022 |
Better in Blak is the debut studio album by Australian singer-songwriter Thelma Plum, released on 12 July 2019 through Warner Music Australia.
Better in Blak achieved commercial success, peaking at number 4 on the ARIA Albums Chart, and winning two awards: Best Cover Art at the 2019 ARIA Music Awards and Album of the Year at the 2020 Queensland Music Awards.
An anniversary edition featuring previously unreleased tracks was released on 6 November 2020.
Better in Blak received critical acclaim.[1]
Josh Leeson of The Newcastle Herald wrote: "Emotional, and unapologetically honest, the Indigenous artist addresses racism, sexism and her broken heart", adding, "Plum's voice is placed at the forefront of the mix, allowing the sparse indie-folk instrumentation to provide casual direction."[2]
Al Newstead from Triple J wrote that Better in Blak is "an album of healing, [and] transforming the pain and sadness of a dark few years into a courageous, self-assured debut album."[3]
Thomas Bleach described the album as "a collection of hard-hitting and thought invoking moments", and "one of the most impressive debuts of the year".[4] He also wrote that Better in Blak "embodies the different sides of her artistry in an honest and endearing way."[4]
| Position | ||
| Australian Artist Albums (ARIA)[5] | 46 |
|---|
| Position | ||
| Australian Albums (ARIA)[6] | 87 |
|---|
| Various | 12 July 2019 | Standard | Warner Music Australia | 5419704880 | [7] [8] [9] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 November 2020 | Anniversary Edition | [10] | ||||
| Australia | 12 November 2020 | LP | 5419708255 | [11] |
! |-! scope="row" rowspan="5"| 2019| rowspan="5"| Better in Blak| Album of the Year| | rowspan="5"| [12] [13] |-| Best Cover Art| |-| Best Female Artist| rowspan="3" |-| Best Pop Release|-| Breakthrough Artist|}
! |-! scope="row"| 2019| Better in Blak| Album of the Year| | [14] |}
! |-! scope="row"| 2019| Better in Blak| Australian Album of the Year| | [15] |}
! |-! scope="row"| 2019| Better in Blak| Album of the Year| | [16] [17] |}
! |-! scope="row"| 2020| Better in Blak| Album of the Year| | [18] |}