In 2019, Australian country music legend Troy Cassar-Daley sadly lost his father and turned to songwriting as a release. When the COVID pandemic arrived in 2020, Cassar-Daley felt, in his own words, “like a rudderless ship,” and it’s this feeling of dislocation combined with that personal tragedy and his feelings around the Black Lives Matter movement which have inspired The World Today. Opening track “Back on Country” combines Cassar-Daley’s trademark country sound with a spiritual feel, connecting the singer to the land—something sure to be close to his heart as a proud Gumbaynggirr and Bundjalung man. There’s also a strong classic-rock feel to many of the songs, such as “Too Big for This Town” and “I Still Believe,” which sound like timeless radio staples. This is little surprise from a musician who fell in love with performing upon visiting the famous Tamworth Country Music Festival as a child, returning the year after his first pilgrimage to busk on the streets. The World Today follows 2016’s Things I Carry Around—an album that was accompanied by a memoir of the same name.