Australian singer-songwriter Julia Jacklin has released “The Hardest Thing,” the third single from her upcoming fourth studio album, “The Gem,” a record made entirely in Melbourne after a recording process that stretched for nearly a year.

The new single is accompanied by a one-shot music video directed by Danny Cohen and filmed from a helicopter as it moves through Melbourne’s skyline. The song also premiered on Jack Saunders’ BBC Radio 1 show.

“The Hardest Thing” follows previously released tracks “I Wish,” featuring The Maes, and “Get Away From Me (I Think I’ll Love You Soon).” All three appear on “The Gem,” which is scheduled for release Sept. 25.

The 10-track album is Jacklin’s first solo studio record since “PRE PLEASURE” in 2022 and follows “Don’t Let the Kids Win” from 2016 and “Crushing” from 2019.

Jacklin produced “The Gem” with Robert Muinos, recording it between December 2024 and December 2025 at Rat Shack studios in Melbourne. The studio sits above The Gem, a pub in the city’s Collingwood neighborhood that Jacklin began frequenting after moving from Sydney to Melbourne in 2017.

The location eventually provided both the album’s title and a setting for its recording.

Jacklin entered the project during a transitional period in her career. She was out of contract with her record label and searching for a manager when she decided to make the album in Melbourne, something she had not done with her previous records.

“I want to love and be loved, but I also want to be free. The tension between those two things has been the central question of my life,” Jacklin said.

That tension became a central theme of “The Gem.”

For the recording sessions, Jacklin worked with Muinos and musicians Jacob Diamond on guitar, Mimi Gilbert on bass and Jess Elwood on drums. The group recorded in converted hotel room accommodations above the pub.

The location placed practical limits on the sessions. Because the pub was in a residential area, the musicians could not record late into the night. Activity from neighboring businesses, bands playing downstairs and the pub’s kitchen also became part of the recording environment.

Jacklin and the band performed two unannounced shows at The Gem to test the new material before recording it.

The group initially expected to complete the album in about two weeks, similar to Jacklin’s previous recording schedules. Instead, the process stretched across much of a year as the musicians continued working on the material.

“‘The Gem’ felt like a metaphor for the whole process, because a lot of it did feel like digging. I felt like I was doing it almost in the dark, just trusting I was going to find something,” Jacklin said.

The musicians marked the end of the sessions with matching tattoos depicting small circles representing an opal, Jacklin’s favorite gemstone. One of the bartenders at The Gem gave them the tattoos.

“It did really feel like we’d done something special together. And I think as a group, it felt important to commemorate it. I’m glad we all have these little gems on us,” Jacklin said.

“The Gem” will be released digitally and on CD, cassette and vinyl. The album includes 10 tracks, with “The Hardest Thing” appearing as the fourth track.

Jacklin will follow the album’s release with an international tour beginning Oct. 20 in San Diego. The North American leg includes stops in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Denver, Chicago, Toronto, New York, Boston and other cities through November.

She will then play two rescheduled shows in England before beginning a broader U.K. and European run in February 2027. That leg is scheduled to conclude March 3 in Lisbon, Portugal.

The album will mark Jacklin’s first solo studio release in four years and comes nearly a decade after the release of her debut album.