Miriam Lieberman: The Things We Carry With Us

Some songs are about a moment. Others reach a little further — backwards to the people who came before us

and forwards to those who'll carry something of us when we're gone.

On her beautiful new single “Bridge In Time,” Sydney singer-songwriter Miriam Lieberman finds herself thinking about the invisible threads connecting all three.

There’s an idea at the heart of Miriam Lieberman’s new single that feels simple until you really start thinking about it.
Out of billions of people, across an almost impossible amount of time, somehow we end up here, sharing this particular moment with the people we love.

For Lieberman, that thought became “Bridge In Time,” the first song from a new creative chapter and the title track of her forthcoming album, due in February 2027. “The song is about love as something that travels through time — something we receive from those who came before us, carry within us, and pass on,” she explains.

“I became fascinated by the extraordinary chance of our lives intersecting at all. We exist among billions of people, across this enormous universe and this vast stretch of time, and yet somehow we find ourselves here, at this particular moment, alongside the people we love. There’s something miraculous about that to me.”

It's a big thought for a song that begins so delicately. Lieberman's kora sits at its centre, its plucked strings gradually joined by hand drums, violin and layers of three-part harmony. Rather than rushing towards the chorus, the arrangement seems to grow around her voice until the whole thing opens up.

That sense of movement mirrors the idea inside the song — something being received, carried and eventually passed along.
“It’s also about recognising that what we’ve been given doesn’t disappear,” Lieberman says. “The love, wisdom and connection we inherit become part of who we are and what we carry forward.”

And then comes the line that gave both the song and album their name: “Love is a bridge in time / we carry it on.” For anyone familiar with Lieberman's music, the kora is an unmistakable part of her sound. The traditional West African stringed instrument became central to her songwriting after she spent significant periods living and studying music in West Africa, eventually finding its place alongside the folk and singer-songwriter traditions that had already shaped her.

It's an unusual combination, but in Lieberman's hands it doesn't feel like one. The kora isn't added as decoration. It has become part of the language she uses to write songs. That language has developed over years of working with violinists and vocalists Lara Goodridge and Susie Bishop, who return on “Bridge In Time,” weaving their strings and harmonies around Lieberman's voice.

Another familiar collaborator, Josh Schuberth, produced, engineered, mixed and mastered the track while also handling the remaining instrumentation. His hand-drum groove became one of those small studio decisions that ended up helping define the entire recording. Together, they allow the song to move naturally from something intimate into something much wider without losing the feeling that somebody is telling you a story.

That balance has long been part of Lieberman's appeal. Her songs tend to live in the space between the personal and the bigger questions surrounding it — love, nature, connection, where we belong and how we make sense of the world around us.
Sometimes she performs alone. Other times Goodridge and Bishop join her as the Miriam Lieberman Trio, adding strings and those interwoven voices that have become such an important part of the music. Either way, the songs remain at the centre.

Years of touring have taken Lieberman around Australia and overseas, including a recent run through Japan, while regular festival appearances have steadily built an audience for music that doesn't particularly need to shout to be heard.

Now she's turning towards the next chapter. The album Bridge In Time arrives in February 2027 and, according to Lieberman, the title track provides a pretty good indication of where the rest of the record is heading.

“It’s the title track and, in many ways, the heart of this new album — an introspective yet expansive collection of songs written through a period of significant growth and change.”

Before then, she'll spend the closing months of 2026 playing shows through Sydney, the Blue Mountains, Yass and Canberra, with more dates planned around the album's release next year.

For Lieberman, that means finally taking songs that have existed privately for some time and allowing them to become something shared. “I’m really looking forward to bringing these new songs into the live setting,” she says. Perhaps that's the other side of the idea behind “Bridge In Time.” You write something alone. You make it with people you trust. Then you send it out into the world, where somebody you've never met might hear something of their own life inside it. And, for a little while at least, another bridge gets built.

Miriam Lieberman – Upcoming 2026 Tour Dates:
Sat 14 Nov | Django Bar, Marrickville NSW
Sat 28 Nov | The Street Theatre, Canberra ACT
Sun 29 Nov | Tyger Gallery, Yass NSW