Luke O’Shea Finds Freedom in The Art of Letting Go

More than a century after Banjo Paterson imagined escaping the confines of city life for the freedom of the Australian bush.

Luke O’Shea has discovered that the feeling behind Clancy of the Overflow might be more relevant now than ever. His new single, The Art of Letting Go, takes that old Australian longing for space, simplicity and connection and brings it firmly into the modern world.
The Art of Letting Go is the first taste of O’Shea’s forthcoming album Long Way to Longreach, and its roots stretch back some 137 years to one of Australia's most enduring poems.

When Clancy of the Overflow first appeared in The Bulletin, Paterson wrote from the perspective of a man trapped behind a desk in a “dingy little office”, dreaming of Clancy somewhere out beyond the city, droving cattle along the Cooper and sleeping beneath an open sky.

Different century. Same feeling. Swap the office ledger for a laptop, add smartphones, notifications, emails and the constant noise of modern life, and suddenly Paterson's yearning doesn't seem particularly old-fashioned at all.

For O'Shea, that connection became the starting point for The Art of Letting Go.

“It’s an age-old story, nature versus civilisation,” he explains, describing the sense of separation that can emerge when people lose their connection with nature — and, in turn, themselves. “Banjo felt it way back then, and due to this current fast-paced, high-stimulation digital age that we all exist in today, it’s more prevalent than ever before.”

Rather than simply borrowing from Paterson, O'Shea uses the old story as a doorway into something contemporary. The song explores our struggle to slow down and quiet the noise, while acknowledging the stress, anxiety and sense of disconnection that can accompany a life lived at full speed.

The answer, O'Shea suggests, isn't necessarily to pack everything up and disappear down the Cooper. It's about rediscovering some of the simpler things humans understood long before anyone had a screen in their pocket — spending time in nature, becoming more aware of our thoughts, reconnecting with ourselves and learning that sometimes the hardest thing to do is simply stop holding on.
“Happiness is your current situation without expectation,” O'Shea says. “Accepting what is and learning how to just let go.”

Of course, he knows that's considerably easier to say than to do.

For O'Shea, letting go is something that requires practice, self-awareness and a willingness to explore what actually brings balance back into our lives. And that's where the song's title really lands. Letting go isn't an escape from life. It's an art that has to be learned.

It's territory that feels particularly natural for Luke O'Shea, an artist who has spent much of his career looking at Australia through its people, landscapes, history and stories.

Across nine albums and a career that has earned him 17 Golden Guitar Awards, O'Shea has developed into one of Australian country and folk music's most distinctive storytellers. His songs frequently reach beyond autobiography, digging into the stories that connect Australians to the country around them and to the generations who travelled these roads before us.

With Long Way to Longreach, that journey continues.

And with The Art of Letting Go, O'Shea has found an unlikely travelling companion in Banjo Paterson. More than 130 years may separate the two writers, but the desire sitting beneath their words remains remarkably similar.

Sometimes you need to get away from the noise. Sometimes you need a little more sky. And sometimes the hardest journey is simply learning when to let go.

Luke O'Shea — Live 2026

October 9 — Flamingos Live, Newcastle NSW 
October 10 — Slim Dusty Centre, Kempsey NSW — Daytime Show 
October 10 — Brush Turkey Books, Wingham NSW — Evening Show 
October 16–18 — Kangaroo Valley Folk Festival, Kangaroo Valley NSW 
October 24 — Quikz in the Hunter, Abermain NSW 
November 6–8 — Airlie Beach Festival of Music, Airlie Beach QLD