Meanjin/Brisbane-based artist Airling returns after eight years, today announcing her new EP Retrieve, releasing on 6 March 2026, and offers a glimpse with anthemic single ‘Mona Lisa’ out now via Pieater (Big Scary, Maple Glider). LISTEN HERE + PRE-SAVE EP HERE.

Airling, AKA Hannah Shepherd, pours her heart into life and opens it to the world through music. Following the release of her debut album, she sought a change and pivoted into nursing, another calling for her empathetic nature. This time away gave her the space to rediscover the joy of making music. Songs arrived without expectation or judgement, and with nothing external to pierce the magic of melody and rhythm, she was able to retrieve her inspiration.

Direct from Airling: “I’ve always had a fascination with the human body and the human condition… our fragility and astounding depth of resilience. My voice has evolved with me and my life. Connecting with people through music isn’t the same as helping the most vulnerable, but I find it weirdly similar. It’s a different energy but there’s this familiar warmth. And when writing the songs on Retrieve, I found myself in my favourite state… a song comes to me and I just play.”
R e t r i e v e /rɪ’triːv/
To find and bring something precious back.
To retrieve what was lost.
To go forth and recover.
Returning with a collection of sophisticated dream-pop songs that pair crisp RnB production with crystalline vocals, Retrieve explores experiences of loss, recovery, infatuation and power. It was written and recorded with long time collaborators Tom Iansek (#1 Dads, Big Scary) and Graham Ritchie (Holy Holy, Scenes) – the same team as her debut EP Love Gracefully, and LP Hard to Sleep, Easy to Dream – at her home in Brisbane, 4000 Studios and BellBird Studio, Melbourne. Each moment played, spoken, sung or programmed by Graham, Tom and Hannah together. The first instalment of the EP, ‘Mona Lisa’, is a vibrant declaration of trust and leaps of faith.

Of ‘Mona Lisa’, Airling continues: “When you see the Mona Lisa, you get the feeling that she is looking at you no matter where you stand in the room. There’s always a huge crowd around her. This song is about how blurred our boundaries can get and how confusing power dynamics are. It’s about falling for love, and falling for the glitter and glamour of someone. In our world that is overloaded with distractions, it’s so precious to have someone’s unconditional attention and to be present for them in return.”

Airling’s celebrated debut album Hard to Sleep, Easy to Dream, was a culmination of a lifetime of stories for the artist. Featuring her powerful blend of personal lyricism and soaring vocals, it earned Feature Album on triple j. and shone as a refined extension of her breakthrough EP debut, Love Gracefully. Airling has collaborated with Emma Louise, Japanese Wallpaper, Xavier Dunn, LANKS, Christopher Port alongside her enduring partnership with Tom Iansek across his solo work and #1 Dads project. Since first winning the triple j Unearthed competition for Splendour In The Grass, Airling has performed alongside Vance Joy, AURORA, M83, Laneway Festival, appeared on triple j’s Like A Version and more.