There’s something quite liberating about admitting that you don’t have the answer, and Blank Instrument’s ‘Know Nothing’ builds its entire emotional world around that realisation.
The third single from forthcoming debut album ‘Jumping at Ghosts’ finds Boorloo/Perth songwriter Kim Franklin turning the focus inward. Where previous releases ‘Brand New’ and ‘Green and Blue’ were shaped partly by memory and loss, ‘Know Nothing’ is more concerned with the pressure she places on herself: the endless search for the “right” decision and the uncomfortable truth that certainty is often impossible.
Warm Hammond organ and acoustic guitar give the track a gentle country-folk foundation, while subtle harmonies soften the edges and lively drums keep things moving with a little more lift. It’s reflective without becoming heavy, and that balance suits the song’s message particularly well.
At the centre of it all is her own relationship with perfectionism. ‘Know Nothing’ doesn’t present uncertainty as failure, but as something to make peace with. There may be several workable paths rather than one perfect answer, and the song gradually seems to relax into that idea.
One of the most telling details comes from the recording process itself. Drummer and percussionist Elliot Smith joined her on the track, while Lee Jones was encouraged to experiment with a glockenspiel despite having no previous experience with the instrument. That spontaneous choice eventually produced a bright hook that remained in the final arrangement.
It is a small moment, but it neatly reflects everything the song is trying to say. Had she been fixated on finding the “correct” sound, that part may never have existed at all.
As ‘Jumping at Ghosts’ draws closer, ‘Know Nothing’ offers another thoughtful glimpse into Blank Instrument’s songwriting world. Gentle, candid and quietly optimistic, it finds real comfort in letting go of the need to have everything figured out.