One Milkali (One Blood)

"One (One Blood)" is a song by Australian synth pop duo Electric Fields. It was written by both members of the duo, and has lyrics in English and Yankunytjatjara, an Aboriginal Australian language. It was released on 5 March 2024 through Sony Music Australia. The song represented Australia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2024, and finished in 11th place with 41 points at semi final one.

The song was nominated for Song of the Year at the National Indigenous Music Awards 2024.

Background and composition

"One (One Blood)" was written by the members of Electric Fields, Michael Ross and Zaachariaha Fielding. The song is written in English, but has lines in the Yankunytjatjara language. According to Fielding, Yankunytjatjara was added as a way to honour his community in Mimili in Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara, also known as APY. It was written in 2019 as a potential song when the duo competed in ''Eurovision – Australia Decides'' that year. The song was originally inspired by an Aboriginal Australian painting that Robert Fielding, Zaachariaha's father, had made titled ''Milkali Kutju'', which symbolizes non-indigenous Australians and Aboriginal Australians working together.

In a press release given out by SBS, the duo stated that the song's title referred to the song's message of advocated for togetherness. They praised Aboriginal Australian culture, stating, "Aboriginal culture has a way of dealing with situations... You don't have to jump on anybody to get what you want. You can actually dialogue it out." An analysis written by Sebastian Diaz of ''Wiwibloggs'' that addressed the mathematical references of the inverse of the golden ratio base, which is used to maintain balance, claimed that it was put in to address "how both significant and insignificant we are in the world", advocating all members of society to come together as a singular entity for the greater good. Ross also has stated desires for the song being used as "a tool to heal" in light of the Gaza war.

Critical reception

In a ''Wiwibloggs'' review containing several reviews from several critics, the song was rated 6.37 out of 10 points. ''Vulture''s Jon O'Brien ranked the song 25th overall, opining that "its muted house-pop sound may struggle to make itself heard in a year that has completely eschewed the idea that less is more".

Eurovision Song Contest

Internal selection

Australia's broadcaster for the Eurovision Song Contest, the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS), officially confirmed participation in the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 on 5 December 2023. On 15 February 2024, SBS announced that it had internally chosen its song and participant to select their representative for that year's contest. A snippet of the song was released two days before its official release in to promote the country's entry. On 5 March, "One (One Blood)" was officially announced as Australia's song for the contest.

At Eurovision

The Eurovision Song Contest 2024 took place at the Malmö Arena in Malmö, Sweden, and consisted of two semi-finals held on the respective dates of 7 and 9 May and the final on 11 May 2024. During the allocation draw on 30 January 2024, Australia was drawn to compete in the first semi-final, performing in the second half of the show. The duo were later drawn to perform 13th in the semi-final, after Azerbaijan's duo of Fahree and Ilkin Dovlatov and before Portugal's Iolanda. The duo used Zaachariaha's previous artwork as part of the staging at Eurovision. They failed to qualify for the final.

Track listing

Digital download/streaming
# "One (One Blood)" – 2:56
Digital download/streaming – Tseba remix
# "One (One Blood)" (Tseba remix) – 3:25
Digital download/streaming – Motez remix
# "One (One Blood)" (Motez remix) – 5:07

Release history

Footnotes

References

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2024 singles
2024 songs
Eurovision songs of 2024
Eurovision songs of Australia
Electric Fields songs
Sony Music Australia singles