Deborah Conway AM has built a career on fearless artistry. From her breakout with Do-Re-Mi in the 1980s, through her ARIA Award-winning solo career and long-standing creative partnership with Willy Zygier, Conway has consistently challenged expectations in the Australian music scene.
Earlier this month, Conway marked her 66th birthday by unveiling a powerful new work with Zygier: their independent album Right Wing Propaganda — a stripped-back, acoustic collection that cuts through the noise of modern music production with raw honesty and connection.
Recorded in their Melbourne home studio, the album features nothing more than guitars, Conway’s crystalline voice, Zygier’s deft musicianship, and the harmonies of their daughters Syd, Alma, and Hettie. No session players, no auto-tune, no polish — just “songs you can trust.”
The record is their eleventh together, continuing a body of work that has earned them recognition as National Living Legends. With 14 tracks, including We’d Rather Have Nothing, The Living & The Dead Song, and the title track Right Wing Propaganda, the album tackles themes of ideology, technology, love, loss, and the fragile connections that bind us.
Conway says the project was a response to a world of “musical super abundance” created by machines and algorithms:
“We retreated inwards, no other musicians, just a guitar on our laps to see what we could wring out of the old ways. It wasn’t a challenge so much as a way of finding connection — with each other, with impulse, with breath, with wood, with skin, with air. A centre in a whirling world of plenty. And hopefully, a connection with a listener somewhere out there in the dark.”
Zygier describes the songs as “a reflection of the whole chaotic thing that is our existence — from human vs machine, to love in later life, to songs for those lost to ideology and intolerance.”
Right Wing Propaganda was mixed by Gideon Preiss, mastered by Lachlan Carrick, with artwork created by Conway, Zygier, and Dave Homer. It is available now on all major streaming platforms, with vinyl and CD editions also released this month.
National Tour: Songs You Can Trust
To celebrate the album, Conway and Zygier will embark on a 22-date national tour from August 16 to November 9, spanning metro and regional venues across Victoria, New South Wales, Western Australia, South Australia, and Queensland.
Tickets and venue details are available at deborahconway.com.
Full Tour Schedule
August
16 – Memo Music Hall, Melbourne VIC
17 – Camelot Lounge, Sydney NSW
18 – Bird’s Basement, Melbourne VIC
September
25 – Avoca Beach Theatre, Avoca NSW
26 – Camelot Lounge, Sydney NSW
27 – Centro CBD, Wollongong NSW
October
3 – Young St Tavern, Frankston VIC
4 – Birregurra Hall, Birregurra VIC
5 – Arcobar, Heatherton VIC
9 – The Ellington, Perth WA
10 – Lyric’s Underground, Maylands WA
11 – Gatsby’s, Manjimup WA
12 – Duke of George, Fremantle WA
17 – Trinity Sessions, Clarence Park SA
18 – Big Easy Radio, Aldinga Beach SA
19 – Murray Delta Juke Joint, Goolwa SA
24 – The Wallaby Hotel, Mudgeeraba QLD
25 – The Royal Hotel, Nundah QLD
26 – Cleveland Sands Hotel, Cleveland QLD
November
7 – Brunswick Ballroom, Brunswick VIC
8 – Queenscliff Uniting Church, Point Lonsdale VIC
9 – Caravan Music Club, Archies Creek VIC
