KT Tunstall Has Her ‘Eye To The Telescope’ In Australia

KT Tunstall will return to Australia and New Zealand in May 2026 to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of her ground breaking multi-million-selling debut album, Eye To The Telescope. These exclusive shows will see KT perform the five times platinum album in its entirety, offering fans a once in a lifetime experience to relive the magic of a defining era.

KT recently supported Train, in a stripped back duo mode, on their huge Australian tour in May of this year and blew everyone away, paving the way for her own headline tour in full band mode next year. Eye To The Telescope remains an iconic and beloved record that has become a landmark moment of British music in the 2000’s. Released in December 2004, it took over the world with hits like Black Horse and the Cherry Tree and Suddenly I See.

KT’s band will comprise of Jackie Barnes on drums – Jimmy Barnes’ son who is one of the most famous musicians in Australia (and a fellow Scot!). Along with Australian singer/songwriter artist Kathleen Halloran on guitar and US bassist tour-de force Joel Gottschalk.

Suddenly I See became the song of a generation when it was featured during the opening scene of The Devil Wears Prada and led her to win the iconic Ivor Novello Award. The tracks, Universe & U and Other Side of the World also found their way into the public consciousness as part of the hugely popular TV series Grey’s Anatomy and helped the album to reach and incredible four million sales around the world. KT talks to Hi Fi Way about the tour.

It’s really exciting that you’re going to be returning again within twelve months of your last visit.
Thank you to Train for getting me over to Australia to rekindle the love affair. I can’t wait to come back.

How much fun was it touring with Train?
Oh, it was just the best, they’re amazing guys, just extremely generous, and very excited to not only have people on the road with them, but collaborate. We were doing this fantastic Goyte cover Somebody That I Used to Know, with anxiety built in, and, so they would get me up on stage, and it was just a dream opening slot with the guys. It was really fantastic and their fans in Australia were amazing, so it was just really nice to connect with them as well.

What is it that you love about touring Australia?
It’s just the furthest away you can get! So, there’s a real feeling of achievement I think. It’s really tough to make it work, to get that far, to travel that far, and juggle the numbers so that you can actually do the gigs and go home with anything in your pocket after paying for the flight. And so, it always feels like a real achievement to me, to be able to get a run of gigs in Australia. This time is different, it’s the first time I’ve ever done this, where I’m actually using Australian musicians for the band because I would usually come and play solo and we worked out that we would be able to have a situation. So when I was on that Train tour, I was lucky enough to make friends with Jackie Barnes, Jimmy’s son, who is an amazing drummer. So Jackie’s going to be on drums, and then a great Australian singer-songwriter who I met through Jackie, Kathleen Halloran is going to be on guitar and vocals, so I’ve got an Australian super band! It’s great!

That must just create a whole fresh and exciting dynamic for you musically as well?
Yeah, it’s fantastic, because every time you play with different musicians, they bring themselves to the material. We’re going to have probably a couple of days rehearsal, I think? So they’re going to learn the songs, and then we just dig in and jam. The gigs themselves are going to be watching us getting to know each other as players, and just having so much fun. In the advent of the world where it’s AI this and backing tracks here and miming to stuff, one of the things that I love about what I do live, and I know that the other two are really excited about this too, is you’re watching it getting played. You’re not going to be hearing anything getting played back or samples. We’re just playing our instruments for you, and having as much fun as we can at the same time.

That’s the magic that AI can’t replicate, is that whole live experience, and experiencing something a bit unique with each show especially with two new players?
I love having a laugh. I love a heckler. Bring it on! I think each show will have its own flavour for sure.

Do you think you’ll enjoy being in some more intimate surrounds on this tour like playing at The Gov in Adelaide?
It’s maybe my favourite situation, the music club, where you can really see everybody. I love being able to see people’s faces. One of the biggest joys of playing live is that you’re playing a song and you just lock in and lock eyes with someone who you can see that song has meant so much to them, especially when you’re playing stuff that’s from twenty years ago. They’ve had a lifetime with this music and it’s woven into their own life. They’re really special moments when you’re actually collaborating with the people who are watching you.

For you personally, the milestone, the twentieth anniversary of Eye To The Telescope, how do you feel about that sort of milestone?
I just feel amazed that not only are people still excited by it, but twenty years later all these people have played the record for their kids! I’ve got young adults coming up to me now, saying that they’ve listened to this album their whole life and it’s like their family soundtrack, or they were born to this song, or they got married to this song, or this song reminds them of their dad. There’s so many stories where the album is woven in to these people’s life stories. It’s just lovely to be the steward of that material that has been there with them through these really big moments in their lives.

The generational shift must be really humbling as well?
It’s my favourite thing about what I do now, is when a younger person comes up to me and says that they’ve picked up guitar because of that record. It’s it’s the biggest gift.

What are some of the moments when that album came out that still stand out quite proudly for yourself?
I think definitely when Suddenly I See was used for The Devil Wears Prada. That was just massive. It changed my life. The Jools Holland performance in the UK, that was the first, kind of, being shot out of a human canon, and then overnight, I’m known in the UK. It was just a complete level-up when that happened with Devil Wears Prada. Suddenly I’m going to Japan and Australia, and it opened up the world.

Were you ever prepared for your life to change so much once things literally took off and blow up like they did?
I don’t think you can ever be prepared. There’s no manual for that stuff, and there’s also no rulebook, so it’s different for every artist, the experience of how it happens, and how you end up dealing with it, and you know, your record label, your manager, and everyone around you is going to be giving you advice and telling you what you should and shouldn’t be doing. It was so overwhelming for me, I never of course, expected it to be as big as it went, and I just really kept my head down and tried to persuade myself that it was the same as playing in the pub. I was like, it’s the same, it’s just more people and of course, it wasn’t the same. Particularly when it came to making the next record, there’s all this pressure of people judging your work, and the label wanting a certain thing from you. There were definitely times where I did not feel built for that.

I’ve also always felt that I’m a bit of a rubbish pop star. It was weird because the songs were put into pop world and I was always really like an indie musician. I was never into fashion, I was never into the photoshoot side of stuff, or magazine covers, or anything like that. I felt like one of the dudes in a ban and so I was pretty ill-equipped for assuming the position as like a pop princess. I found myself at the Grammys, I was nominated for Best Pop Vocal with Christina Aguilera. I was like, this doesn’t make sense, I’m all for it, but it doesn’t make any sense to me. It was a wild ride, so it was like, just strap in, hang on, try and enjoy it.

I think that’s what we love about you, is that you keep doing you and you’re being uniquely you, so don’t change.
Yeah, exactly. That’s how I have most fun, is just being able to laugh at yourself, and recognise the ridiculousness of certain situations.

I love the words “fantastically scrappy” when you described the making of that album.
It’s funny, these guitar magazines were like, oh yeah, you’re such a great guitar player. I’m like, I’m really not. I’m like, I do my thing, but scrappy AF! I think it’s one thing that’s actually allowed me to enjoy what I do, maybe more than some other musicians, is that I’m just not a perfectionist. I’ll be very particular when it comes to mixing a record, the elements of a record, and making sure all the parts, I can get very detail-oriented. But when it comes to live and playing and executing the album on stage, I’m really not a massive perfectionist. I’m much more into allowing some chaos in. That’s what I enjoy.

When you have a single like Suddenly I See, do you feel a certain level of pressure that you’ve got to keep delivering singles like that?
I certainly kind of suffered from that at first, and not for no reason, because everyone around me wanted me to do the same thing again, to have the same success again. But it just doesn’t work with my creative brain. I can’t really program it in that way. I also feel like there’s such a kind of human meat-suit arrogance to demand your subconscious, creative soul to deliver something. I don’t really understand where songs come from. They just arrive. Who am I to demand that it comes in a certain way or shape or sound? I think, for me, I’ve got to just honour what arrives and follow that, and serve that, rather than feel that I’m the queen of a kingdom, then I can just pick and choose what I want. It much more feels like you’re a conduit for something coming through that you don’t really understand.

The Stargazer edition of Eye To The Telescope has a great track listing there. Was it a whole heap of fun going through the archives finding all the extra bits and pieces to go on that?
Yeah, it was a really a beautiful process of digging into the treasure chest of old things.

Was there anything there that you were really surprised about that you might have forgotten about?
Well, I was just doing a story on my Instagram about the Australian tour, and I was putting Other Side of the World audio on it, and there’s a live track that I actually hadn’t listened to that’s on Stargazer, and it’s a live electronic remix that I performed. I still can’t remember where I did it. I’ve got to go and look at the track list to see where it was recorded. But there’s so many versions of things that I could be looking all day and finding new stuff.

Are you looking at playing Eye To The Telescope start to end on your Australian tour?
We are! We’re definitely going to do that. I don’t know yet if we’re going to do it in order. I’m going to ask fans to see what they would prefer, because I quite like changing up the track listing, just for a different experience. But there is something special too about listening to the album in the way that you’ve got used to listening to it as a fan, so I will take a poll with the Australian fans on that one.

Are there any particular songs that are harder to play?
Silent Sea is a nightmare because it requires precision, is why. But it’s a really tricky picking part, and it’s so naked when I’m picking, so I’ve just got to get that right. I’ve nailed it a few times, so fingers crossed I’ll manage it.

Beyond the Australian tour next year, what’s the plan? Are you looking to do another album, or is there more touring?
I’ve started working on a new record. I don’t know what it’s going to be like yet, it’s all up in the air. I really like that process of sort of not knowing and waiting for things to come. I’ve had a great time writing the music for Clueless The Musical. It’s a stage version of the movie. We’re really hoping to bring that to Australia on tour, within the next year or so, so that will be great if we can get that happening, it’s a really good, fun musical. I’ve got another few in the works as well, really enjoying writing for musical theatre.

What does Christmas look like for yourself?
Oh man, it’s been a year. It’s been a crazy year. I will be sitting on the couch, covered in dogs, watching movies, eating food!

Interview By Rob Lyon

Catch KT Tunstall on the following dates, tickets from Destroy All Lines…