LOS ANGELES, CA- Some songs don’t just resonate—they reveal. Tash Sultana’s latest single, “Ain’t It Kinda Funny” featuring City and Colour, is one of those rare, soul-tapping tracks that doesn’t need much to say everything. Released as the third offering from their forthcoming six-track EP Return to the Roots, the collaboration feels like a quiet emotional landslide—slow, deep, and heavy with meaning.
The lyrics don’t try to overwhelm you. Instead, they creep in:
“Ain’t it kinda funny how the time just rolls on by / One minute you’re 19 and then you’re 29…”
There’s something universally unsettling in that line, especially for anyone approaching—or well into—their 30s and beyond. For me, it hit with unflinching clarity. I recently unearthed old photographs from my early twenties, and I barely recognized the person in them—not just physically, but emotionally. That moment of jarring disconnection, of not remembering who you were or why, is exactly what Sultana captures here. It’s the kind of realization that made me take stock of my life—and, in my case, walk away from alcohol.
Written by Tash as a teenager, “Ain’t It Kinda Funny” has aged with grace and now arrives reimagined, evolved into something far richer. What began as a raw acoustic piece steeped in reverence for Jeff Buckley and Bon Iver now blooms into a gorgeous, six-minute meditation. It’s a duet of generations—Sultana’s vulnerability paired with Dallas Green’s seasoned warmth. Their verses complement like mirrors held at slightly different angles, reflecting youth, regret, resilience, and the slow burn of becoming.
The sparse lyrics leave space for rumination, and the instrumentation does the heavy lifting. Acoustic guitars shimmer throughout, creating an atmosphere that feels like golden-hour introspection. It’s not background music—it’s the kind of composition that sits beside you, quietly holding space for whatever truth you need to confront. And when the song leans into its wordless, harmonic refrain—“Oh oh oh oh oh”—it does what the best songwriting does: it lets you feel instead of telling you what to feel.
Sultana described turning 30 as a prompt for reflection, a reminder that the pressure to have it all figured out is just noise. And Return to the Roots as a whole, they say, is about stripping away the industry polish and reconnecting with the rawness that started it all. “Ain’t It Kinda Funny” exemplifies that mission. It doesn’t try to impress; it aims to connect.
And that connection extends to the studio. City and Colour, who first met Tash last year, visited their Australian studio and helped bring the song to life. The chemistry between the two artists is undeniable—equal parts reverent and relaxed. According to Sultana, the final moments of recording were interrupted by their dog taking a “massive stinking hot shit on the floor the size of an AFL football.” It’s a jarringly hilarious anecdote—proof that even amid poetic introspection, life has a way of grounding you.
With “Ain’t It Kinda Funny,” Tash Sultana continues to prove what fans have always known: their music isn’t about the genre—it’s about the journey. And for those of us in the middle of our own turning points, this song is a quiet, powerful companion.
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