quête:australia

Halv Drøm is the EBM/techno/punk/esoteric project of Berlin-based Australian DJ, producer and Fleisch Records co-founder, Saxon Jörgensen. Halv Drøm’s approach to creating music is deeply rooted in ideas of political upheaval and possibilities of spiritual healing through raw and confrontational sounds. Halv Drøm’s debut appearance on BITE is an intense 5 track EP that alternates between trance-inducing esoteric polyrhythms, high-impact body music and gloomy techno, and results in a dark trip-like musical experience, where modern electronics and ancient rhythmic structures perform a ritual of harsh healing. The EP is supported with remixes by BITE regulars – Unhuman and Human Performance Lab. Artwork by Florian Engerling Design by Eloise Leigh Mixed by Gianmaria Dell’Aera and Manos Simotas Mastered by Gianmaria Dell’Aera

As the name suggests, Sai Galaxy represents a star-studded
cluster of artists from around the world – their varied styles
colliding to form a refreshing fusion of classic Afrobeat, disco
and West African funk.

Drawing from the influence of 70s and 80s Nigerian artists
such as Nkono Teles, Jake Sollo and Mike Umoh, the Sai
Galaxy collective is on a mission to reproduce the analogue
warmth and groove from those decades. Consequently, they
lean heavily on 70s production techniques - free from the
predictable rigidity of digital sequencing.

Spearheaded by Australian multi-instrumentalist Simon
Durrington (from Digital Afrika), the members include
Olugbade Okunade - former trumpet player from Seun Kuti’s
Egypt 80 - as well as guests Gabriel Otu, Ray Lédon and
Vanessa Baker.

While the EP seeks to reflect 70s production, glimpses of
contemporary elements can be found in the arrangements
and harmonies, at times reminiscent of modern artists such as
Lord Echo, Bosq and Voilaaa.

As Durrington believes: “dance is vital to health and
community”. And with an EP that urges you to dance from
start to finish, consider Sai Galaxy a cosmic tonic for the
modern lifestyle.

823 is a multifaceted Perth-based record label, fashion brand, and artistic community, founded by Australian producer and all-around creative, Ta-ku (846k monthly listeners on Spotify). With an ethos of attention to detail and appreciation for the everyday things in life, 823 doesn’t stick to any particular genre. 823’s releases include Cabu’s (800k Monthly Listeners on Spotify) “So Far To Go” EP, Ta-ku and matt mcwaters’s duo project “Black and White,” which featured Masego collaboration “Flight 99” (14 million streams on Spotify), their debut release with Australian producer and instrumentalist Kuzich, and multiple sold out clothing capsules. “All Things Considered Vol. 1” set off a collaborative series of curated compilations, featuring both budding and well-established artists around the world including Idealism, Wun Two, pastels, SwuM, Jinsang, Saltyyyy V, and more. “All Things Considered Vol. 2” sees the continuation of this project, this time in partnership with fellow Perth-based powerhouse, Butter Goods.

Butter Goods is a Perth clothing brand rooted in skating culture and style, but drawing inspiration from hip-hop, jazz, and music at large. Butter Goods has been featured in major publications, including GQ, Complex, and HYPEBEAST. They’ve collaborated on releases with Peanuts and Puma, and have reached international levels of popularity. Butter Goods co-founder Garth Mariano’s deep love for and eclectic tastes in music drive his creativity, and are front and center in his partnership with Ta-ku and 823 on “All Things Considered Vol 2,” where the two team up to curate a wide-ranging compilation.

Arriving on September 2nd, 2022, “All Things Considered Vol. 2” is an exploration of Ta-ku’s and Mariano’s extensive and often overlapping musical palettes in two parts. The record pays homage to the love of instrumental music and hidden gems of new school jazz and funk that act as a source of inspiration and nostalgia for the both of them. The collaboration brings together over a dozen producers and instrumentalists from Sydney to Chicago, including Jadu Jadu, Gnarly, Tenderlonius, silentjay, and more. Side A is curated by Ta-ku and 823. It’s as much a love letter to the past as it is a nod to the future of beat-making. Featuring sample heavy, drum looped beats, sprinkled with the occasional ear candy for the attentive listener, it presents cruisy soundscapes & easy listening. Side B is curated by Garth and Butter Goods. It’s a raw and eclectic companion to Side A, leaning heavily into the texture and grit of multi-layered jazz and funk-driven beats.

As with any 823 release, the project is as visual as it is sonic. The artwork and visualizers are a celebration of Garth’s love of thrift culture and old nature documentaries, fused with 823’s design aesthetic of bringing everyday inspirations to the forefront. CRT style visuals are paired with 90’s spin, slide and fade away transitions. When partnered with the music, each visualizer could easily work as the intro for an episode of a VHS series of nature docos.

1st single, “senzu bean,” arrives on July 7th and kicks off Side A, showcasing Ta-ku’s hip-hop-centric tastes. Sydney producer Jadu Jadu teams up with UK-based TAMBALA, apltn, and Makzo for a vibrant instrumental. From a head-nodding bassline beneath fuzzy synths, to soft horn licks sprinkled over electronic drums, “senzu bean” is sonically rich and multilayered.

2nd single, “Too Much” by UK producer saaaz arrives July 20th. It’s a moody and low-tempo beat that builds itself up over time, complete with cryptic vocal samples and syrupy drums and bass. Also off of 823’s Side A, “Too Much” maintains a laid-back hip-hop theme but with saaaz’s signature and definitive lo-fi twist.

3rd single, “Goodmorning” from Baro Sura and silentjay of Melbourne arrives August 3rd, kicking off Butter Good’s Side B. The track is bright from start to finish and is a sun-filled track perfect for closing out the summer with. Final single, “Fool’s Gold” by Los Angeles producer L.Dre arrives August 17th. The infinitely creative beatmaker layers soft hums and the sounds of crashing waves over crisp drums and an infectious bassline. Together, it makes for a beat that sounds like it was made outside, under the sun, and is best enjoyed in the same way.

Focus track, “Seventh Wonder” by Tenderlonius, comes off of Side B, and is a window into the ideas and palettes on both sides of the compilation. The beat slowly fades in, one sound at a time, until it reaches a full-fledged groove, soaked in synths, bass, and horns, that’s impossible not to move to.

On the whole, “All Things Considered Vol. 2” is a forward-focused, sonic journey into the minds behind two of today’s great creative brands, and is as artistically eclectic and varied as those minds are, and a proud follow-up to its first volume.

LP contains A2 poster on uncoated stock.

Berlin’s Pure Hate drop their 5th release ‘Chrome Horse Diplomat EP’ by Mickey Nox. Having previously remixed MDD on PH003, this time he takes both sides of the record and delivers 4 heavy hitting original signature hammer tracks. Mickey spawned out of the cracks of the Melbourne club scene in 2007. Which led to several residencies & festivals around Australia. In 2013 he launched his label & brand ‘Green Fetish Records’ which has since gone from strength to strength cementing its position in the Techno scene worldwide. Outside of Australia & GFR he has played clubs such as Tresor, Moog, Basis, Jaded to name a few and has released music on labels such as Perc Trax, Mind Cut Music & South London Analog Material, having been remixed by the likes of Ansome, Ayarcana, Myler & Manni Dee along the way. Mastering by Joe Farr. Artwork by Slave To Society.

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard return with new album K.G., their sixteenth since forming in 2010. In the wake of a global pandemic, it’s a collection of songs composed and recorded remotely after the six members of the band retreated to their own homes scattered around Melbourne, Australia. K.G. is a pure distillation of the King Gizzard sound, one that cherry picks the best aspects of previous albums and contorts them into new shapes via defiantly non-western rock scales.

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard are repressing their sixteenth album, K.G. n 2010. In the wake of a global pandemic, it’s a collection of songs that saw the six members of the band retreating to their own homes scattered around Melbourne, Australia to compose and record remotely. But have no fear! Not a drop of that unnamed alchemical something that makes this band so special is missing. This is the Gizz firing on all sonic cylinders, for if ever a band were built to swiftly adapt to adverse circumstance then it is them. Hell, on paper Covid-19, with its monstrous yet unseen face, ecological implications and new language, even sounds like an abandoned concept for a King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard album.

Truth be told, the practicalities of the creation of K.G. is a side-issue. It is the contents and the sheer visceral power of music that matters. Music that will live on long after a virus has passed. Back in 2017 the band released Flying Microtonal Banana, now one of their most highly regarded albums. That it was the first of five released by the band that year and was only part the story – a story made all the remarkable by the fact it was recorded using a microtonal musical scale that requires quarter tone tunings, on instruments custom-made for the occasion. It spawned a plethora of live favourites such as ‘Rattlesnake’, ‘Sleep Drifter’, ‘Nuclear Fusion’ and ‘Billabong Valley’ and showed the wider world that the Gizz paint from a palette that extends far beyond the musical colours of western rock. Here were songs in tunings more common in traditional Turkish or Arabic music.

“FMB was one of the purest and most enjoyable recording experiences we’ve had, and the ideas just kept coming” explains de facto band leader and multi-instrumentalist Stu Mackenzie. “But we didn’t think we would play it live as the music dictated a new medium that requires different instruments, new flight cases and so. It was a liberating studio-based experiment which surprisingly translated seamlessly and spawned some of favourite songs to play live.”

So now they return to the microtonal tunings on K.G., an album best described as a pure distillation of the King Gizzard sound, one that cherry picks the best aspects of previous albums and contorts them into new shapes and via defiantly non-Western rock scales. There’s walk-on theme song ‘K.G.L.W’, the celestial disco-funk of ‘Intrasport’, the righteous life-giving staccato rock of ‘Ontology’, epic stoner-sludge closer ‘The Hungry Wolf Of Fate’, which ends the album in abrupt burst of white noise. All come together to represent the next-level of the expanding Gizz sound.

K.G. is both a stand-alone work and also part of a bigger musical picture. More news on that shall be forthcoming – fans of the band know by now that King Gizzard don’t do things by halves. If music were organic matter, then their albums are ever-changing entities: initial highlights are often superseded on further exploration, favourite tracks replaced by less obvious moments, while riffs or bursts of noise from four or five albums back might suddenly rear their heads again.

JON GOMM'S 'THE FAINTEST IDEA' WILL BE REISSUED ON VINYL FOR
THE FIRST TIME SINCE 2020.Jon Gomm, the UK based acoustic guitar
virtuoso, finds new emotional depths in immense melodic pop
landscapes, with his 'The Faintest Idea'
As one of the pioneers of the modern fingerstyle sound, Jon Gomm has a rare gift
for turning one instrument into what feels like an entire orchestra. The singersongwriter's 2003 home- recorded debut, 'Hypertension', was nothing short of a
musical revelation. Things changed for Jon when landmark single 'Passionflower'
racked up millions of views on YouTube & other media platforms in 2012 – with
British legend Stephen Fry describing him on mainstream television as someone
"playing the guitar in a way I'd never seen it played before" & "an all-round genius".
The Faintest Idea's title is based on the notion that all of us, to some extent, are
just 'The Faintest Idea', "It's an enigmatic title," says Gomm. "There's a fine line
between a metaphor & a pun, so I guess it dances on that" & explores the
contrasts between the warmth of Gomm's acoustic articulation with more icy
affairs, thanks to the synth parts & production work from Australian musician
Andy Sorenson, together they have created a contemporary masterpiece.
The Faintest Idea's immersive & emotional 11 tracks see a musician coming to
terms with the talents that got him recognised & choosing to evolve into the
unexpected. This album just boils down to the magic of one man with his guitar &
voice. And what a powerful magic it is.
The album is complemented by the delicate hand drawn pen & ink cover art
created by Lee Zimmerman. 'The Faintest Idea' is issued via Kscope on Black LP.

Nine-piece West Africa-via-Melbourne ensemble Ausecuma Beats and improvised collective Zeitgeist Freedom Energy Exchange, also known as Z*F*E*X, reveal a new collaborative EP out August 19 via Music in Exile.

Call it a match made somewhere in musical heaven, the minds behind Ausecuma Beats, comprised of members from Senegal, Mali, Cuba and Guinea, found they melded easily with Z*F*E*X following weeks of recording and sharing material remotely together.

Z*F*E*X themselves, an ensemble comprised of drummer Zeke ‘Ziggy’ Zeitgeist, keyboardist and producer Lewis Moody, bassist Matthew Hayes, and a rotating cast of guests, are prolific musicians themselves with weighty credentials spread across their base locations of Australia, the United Kingdom, and Europe.

Thus, from a backyard shed in Dandenong North, Australia, some of West Africa’s finest would record simple percussive tracks, which then surfed the airwaves via studios in Melbourne, Berlin and London, to finally land back on listeners doorsteps as a forthcoming collaborative EP, Deep Heat/Tropical Storm.

Starring two guest vocalists who are some of the most invigorating in their respective scenes - Latin America via Berlin star Gotopo, and Melbourne’s own Rara Zulu - the EP’s beginnings in percussive exploration are transformed into a must-have record of all bangers.

Expect the duelling minds of two highly respected acts to reveal a combined EP of complex compositions that remain wholly accessible thanks to addictive harmonies and melodies. Emotionally thrilling, and easy to love, listen and dance to.

(Gatefold with UV gloss finishing) 'Reunion' is the third album from nu-disco star Tim Bernhardt, aka Satin Jackets. Released this summer on Eskimo Recordings 'Reunion' is a stunning follow up to the German producer's first two critically acclaimed albums and features 14 stunning tracks of sun kissed disco, Balearic house, leftfield pop and guest vocals from the likes of Australian star Panama, Belgian singer Ivy Falls, US based vocalist Metaxas and up and coming British singer Tailor.

Eleventh album from the Juno-nominated Burlington, ON post-hardcore and emo band that has sold 1.2M+ albums worldwide. Produced by Sam Guaiana The Devil Wears Prada, Between You & Me, Like Pacific. The lead single “It’s Over” streamed upon release on NME [“return to emo roots coupled with a post-hardcore edge…intense melodies”]. Further praise from HM Magazine, Loudwire, Rock Sound. Eight of Silverstein’s albums have charted in the United States, including A Beautiful Place to Drown [2020, #5 Billboard “Hard Rock Albums” “#7 “Alternative Albums”], which was nominated for “Rock Album of the Year” at the Juno Awards]. They’ve toured with Good Charlotte, Blessthefall, August Burns Red, Silent Planet, Four Year Strong. They toured the United States and Canada this autumn with support from The Plot in You and Can’t Swim, and they’ll be back on the road in the United States this spring with The Devil Wears Prada. Released independently via Australia's leading heavy music label UNFD.

Eleventh album from the Juno-nominated Burlington, ON post-hardcore and emo band that has sold 1.2M+ albums worldwide. Produced by Sam Guaiana The Devil Wears Prada, Between You & Me, Like Pacific. The lead single “It’s Over” streamed upon release on NME “return to emo roots coupled with a post-hardcore edge…intense melodies”. Further praise from HM Magazine, Loudwire, Rock Sound. Eight of Silverstein’s albums have charted in the United States, including A Beautiful Place to Drown [2020, #5 Billboard “Hard Rock Albums” “#7 “Alternative Albums”], which was nominated for “Rock Album of the Year” at the Juno Awards]. They’ve toured with Good Charlotte, Blessthefall, August Burns Red, Silent Planet, Four Year Strong. They toured the United States and Canada this autumn with support from The Plot in You and Can’t Swim, and they’ll be back on the road in the United States this spring with The Devil Wears Prada. Released independently via Australia's leading heavy music label UNFD.

Multi-platinum hard rock powerhouse Five Finger Death Punch release 'AfterLIfe', their highly anticipated new studio album. Having amassed over 8 billion streams, the band’s highly anticipated follow-up to their 2020 release 'F8', which debuted at no. 1 on rock charts around the world with Top 10 mainstream chart debuts in the UK, USA, Austria, Australia, Canada, Finland, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland and more, implores fans to fight for their rights to be unapologetic and straightforward about their opinions. The song 'IOU' questions if it’s better to serve in heaven or reign in hell, giving listeners an introspective look at what societal pressures to back down on their viewpoints could result in. Last month, the band released the first official single and title track from 'AfterLife', which was met with critical praise as Loudwire deemed it a “hard-hitting rock radio gem you'd hope for from 5FDP, starting with a solitary atmospheric guitar lick, giving way to bullet-like drums and a fleshed out full band assault brimming with energy and a pulsing low end.” The band’s longtime collaborator Kevin Churko (Ozzy Osbourne, Papa Roach, Skillet) helmed the producer duties of this ninth and arguably most diverse record yet from the band.

Multi-platinum hard rock powerhouse Five Finger Death Punch release 'AfterLIfe', their highly anticipated new studio album. Having amassed over 8 billion streams, the band’s highly anticipated follow-up to their 2020 release 'F8', which debuted at no. 1 on rock charts around the world with Top 10 mainstream chart debuts in the UK, USA, Austria, Australia, Canada, Finland, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland and more, implores fans to fight for their rights to be unapologetic and straightforward about their opinions. The song 'IOU' questions if it’s better to serve in heaven or reign in hell, giving listeners an introspective look at what societal pressures to back down on their viewpoints could result in. Last month, the band released the first official single and title track from 'AfterLife', which was met with critical praise as Loudwire deemed it a “hard-hitting rock radio gem you'd hope for from 5FDP, starting with a solitary atmospheric guitar lick, giving way to bullet-like drums and a fleshed out full band assault brimming with energy and a pulsing low end.” The band’s longtime collaborator Kevin Churko (Ozzy Osbourne, Papa Roach, Skillet) helmed the producer duties of this ninth and arguably most diverse record yet from the band.

Multi-platinum hard rock powerhouse Five Finger Death Punch release 'AfterLIfe', their highly anticipated new studio album. Having amassed over 8 billion streams, the band’s highly anticipated follow-up to their 2020 release 'F8', which debuted at no. 1 on rock charts around the world with Top 10 mainstream chart debuts in the UK, USA, Austria, Australia, Canada, Finland, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland and more, implores fans to fight for their rights to be unapologetic and straightforward about their opinions. The song 'IOU' questions if it’s better to serve in heaven or reign in hell, giving listeners an introspective look at what societal pressures to back down on their viewpoints could result in. Last month, the band released the first official single and title track from 'AfterLife', which was met with critical praise as Loudwire deemed it a “hard-hitting rock radio gem you'd hope for from 5FDP, starting with a solitary atmospheric guitar lick, giving way to bullet-like drums and a fleshed out full band assault brimming with energy and a pulsing low end.” The band’s longtime collaborator Kevin Churko (Ozzy Osbourne, Papa Roach, Skillet) helmed the producer duties of this ninth and arguably most diverse record yet from the band.

Salt Mines welcomes newcomer Zara to the family with an EP inspired by the sounds, colours and textures of festivals in the Australian bush. With this record Zara debuts a musical style that is dened in its identity yet dees categorisation.

incl. mp3
A deepening sense of life, love, health, loss, and luck shaped the outlines of Tuttle’s fifth, and most collaborative album to date. Following a surprising exhilaration and exhaustion from the hitherto most innocuous of moments in mid-2020 - a half-hour drive to collect an online order, the furthest distance he’d traveled in months; Tuttle commenced working on new musical ideas loosely based around navigating the aftermaths and interregnums of a restless era. “I was thinking about what’s going on in the world and how localised it has become for so many of my friends in different places,” Tuttle explains. “Not in a negative way but more so focusing on how lovely it is when things are good.”
Thinking of musician friends and peers around the world – each confined to their own immediate surroundings – Tuttle’s generative and collaborative musical practice became a silvery through-line, connecting American innovators Steve Gunn, Chuck Johnson, Luke Schneider and Michael A. Muller (Balmorhea), to French/Swedish violinist Aurelie Ferriere and Spanish guitarist Conrado Isasa, back to Australian friends such as Voltfruit (aka Flora Wong and Luke Cuerel) and Darren Cross (Gerling) – among many others – each fitting seamlessly into Tuttle’s vibrant musical world.
Whilst previously a feature of Tuttle’s music, the exploration of space and texture found within Fleeting Adventure feels particularly vast and generous. The involvement of Chuck Johnson and Lawrence English mixing and mastering the album respectively, as with their work on Tuttle’s previous and breakthrough album Alexandra (Room40, 2020), inspired Andrew to develop songs that are as serene and patient as he’s ever sounded. Stripping elements back, the idea of pulling the songs apart somewhat, was just as important as adding the work of Andrew’s collaborators. “It is spacious through intent, process and assistance,” he confirms. "I thought carefully about what instruments - both what I played and what I asked others to provide based on my unadorned banjo track - would best work with what I was wanting to create.”
The road to Fleeting Adventure has been both long and short, but it sits as a tender and perhaps even vital reflection of an era in progress, in retrospect and in anticipation. A poignant contemplation on the many bonds that make up our lives from friends and family to the myriad places we inhabit and pass through along the way. The idea that an adventure doesn’t necessarily have to be a grand statement Andrew Tuttle has gathered up a number of his contemporaries and crafted something quietly spectacular, a new beginning to familiar habits.

“Tuttle’s plaintive banjo is encircled by an array of majestic sounds: serpentine electric guitar from Steve Gunn, enveloping electronics courtesy of Balmorhea’s Michael A Muller, violin swirls from Aurelie Ferriere , and the gentle saxophone of Joe Saxby. The result is a lush and unabashedly beautiful sonic landscape.’’ 8/10 UNCUT LEAD REVIEW
Andrew Tuttle's new single New Breakfast Habit is the perfect sonic condiment for the most important meal of the day. A banjo flecked ambient/cosmic journey with a psychedelic video courtesy of Matmos
His new album 'Fleeting Adventure' is the soundtrack of the world re-emerging and getting a release on Basin Rock (Julie Byrne, Aoife Nessa Frances, Johanna Samuels) this summer.

What I Breathe is the debut album from Mall Grab AKA Jordon Alexander. The Australia-born London-based powerhouse reaches within to create the most comprehensive demonstration of his style to date – loudly defining the raw energy that has become synonymous with the moniker.

“This album is deeply personal and an exploration of all influences, sounds and sides of the Mall Grab project. It follows my journey of the last 6 years from a university dropout in Newcastle (Australia), making music as a source of happiness and expression.”
While glances of what Jordon gravitates towards in dance music can be heard in the record label imprints he steers—Looking For Trouble and Steel City Dance Discs—it's with What I Breathe that he elaborates on and articulates his diverse ear for music. Through collaborations with Brendan Yates of Turnstile, Novelist, D Double E and Nia Archives, the Mall Grab repertoire of emotive electronics is used to traverse his love of hard-to-define energies that exist between genres like Hardcore, Hip-Hop and Soul.
“I have been lucky enough to work with some of my favourite artists which have really been the glue that keeps the project coherent. There are a lot of familiar sounds on this album that my listeners and followers have become accustomed to and joined me in the deep dive. Elements of emotional but hard and pumping club music are intertwined with House, Jungle, Rave and Grime. My adopted home city of London has been a huge inspiration to how my music has evolved and progressed, and on What I Breathe I wanted to create a body of work which not only had something for everyone who has been with me the past 6 years, but also those who aren’t yet aware of what I’m about or the music I make.”
Jordon’s long-standing penchant for all things DIY blossoms in tracks like Lost In Harajuku and Without The Sun which feature his own original lyrics and vocals. As the album twists and weaves from one song to the next, gleaming melodies flare up into club-ready anthems such as Metaphysical and Breathing. The kinetic flow of the music as a whole can be attributed to the many years of cutting his teeth as a DJ, a skill that can be testified by anyone who has witnessed a Mall Grab set.

“As I was a DJ for many years before I delved into producing electronic music, I had a wide appreciation and love for all types of music, predominantly gravitating towards ‘band' music when creating my own projects, before evolving into a fully-fledged electronic producer – however always retaining the influence and love for all things live and genre-fluid.”

Even with a stack of very well-received projects already under his belt, What I Breathe can be seen as the first deep breath in and a fierce declaration of what’s to come for Mall Grab.

“I’m grateful for everything and everyone in my life, those I love and those who support my music, through all the ups and downs. I live and breathe this shit. I cannot do anything else. I will continue until there is nothing left for me to say.”

For Fans Of… Dr. John, Allen Toussaint, The Faces, Joe Cocker, Leon Russell, Buddy Miles, The Meters, Father John Misty. "I just wanted to be honest about everything, from my musical influences to my story," muses Neal Francis. After years of dishonest living - consumed by drugs, alcohol, and addiction - such sincerity is jarring from the 30-year-old Chicago-based musician. Liberated from a self-destructive past and born anew in sobriety, Francis has captured an inspired collection of songs steeped in New Orleans rhythms, Chicago blues, and early 70s rock n' roll. There is a deep connection between Francis's childhood - his obsession with boogie woogie piano, his father's gift of a dusty Dr. John LP - and the songs he's created. The result is an astonishing collection of material without parallel in the contemporary funk and soul scene. The influences are unmistakable: the vocal stylings of Allen Toussaint and Leon Russell; the second line rhythms of The Meters and Dr. John; the barroom rock 'n' roll of The Rolling Stones; the gospel soul of Billy Preston; the roots music of The Band. Francis pays tribute to the masters but has his own story to tell: "It's the life I've lived so far." After playing his first live show in November 2018, Francis was signed by veteran agents Joshua Knight and Phil Egenthal of Paradigm Talent Agency. 2019 brought a North American tour supporting Australian band The Cat Empire as well as radio play on KEXP, KCRW's The Morning Becomes Eclectic, and BBC Radio 6. Francis and his four-piece band performed at festivals such as Summer Camp and the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and shared the stage with The Meters and Lee Fields & The Expressions. Francis continues to tour relentlessly to promote his own music. "I'm doing this to fulfill a drive within myself, but also to pay tribute to the gifts I've been given. And it comes from a place of immense gratitude. I've been given so much in my life, especially in the last two years, that this feels like a bonus." Also Available From Neal Francis: These Are The Days 7”.

'Kickstart The Sun', das ganze neun Monate Studiozeit in Anspruch nahm und teilweise in den legendären RAK Studios in London aufgenommen wurde, legt die Messlatte zu den vorherigen Alben noch einmal höher. Das vertraute Team aus Produzent/Gitarrist und Hauptsongwriter Greg Hart und Engineer Ian Caple haben 15 epische AOR-Nummern aus der taufe gehoben die eine Gesamtspielzeit von über 60 Min. haben. Das Album enthält einige ganz besondere Gäste, die bestätigen, dass die Band ihre musikalischen Grenzen bis zum absoluten Maximum ausreizt.

Der legendäre Pedal-Steel-Spieler B.J. Cole (Elton John, Humble Pie, Gerry Rafferty, Stranglers, John Cale, Uriah Heep u.v.a.) gehört dazu wie auch der australische Virtuose Ian Cooper, oder Emily Lynne und Lara Smiles die normalerweise bei The Australian Pink Floyd im Chor singen.

'Kickstart The Sun', wird neben der einfachen CD-Version auch als limitierte Doppel-RED MARBLE-Vinyl mit Booklet, als YELLOW MARBLE-Vinyl mit Booklet und als Super-Deluxe-Doppel-CD inklusive einer 10-Track-Bonus-CD mit exklusiven Aufnahmen und alternativen Mixes erhältlich sein.

'Kickstart The Sun', das ganze neun Monate Studiozeit in Anspruch nahm und teilweise in den legendären RAK Studios in London aufgenommen wurde, legt die Messlatte zu den vorherigen Alben noch einmal höher. Das vertraute Team aus Produzent/Gitarrist und Hauptsongwriter Greg Hart und Engineer Ian Caple haben 15 epische AOR-Nummern aus der taufe gehoben die eine Gesamtspielzeit von über 60 Min. haben. Das Album enthält einige ganz besondere Gäste, die bestätigen, dass die Band ihre musikalischen Grenzen bis zum absoluten Maximum ausreizt.

Der legendäre Pedal-Steel-Spieler B.J. Cole (Elton John, Humble Pie, Gerry Rafferty, Stranglers, John Cale, Uriah Heep u.v.a.) gehört dazu wie auch der australische Virtuose Ian Cooper, oder Emily Lynne und Lara Smiles die normalerweise bei The Australian Pink Floyd im Chor singen.

'Kickstart The Sun', wird neben der einfachen CD-Version auch als limitierte Doppel-RED MARBLE-Vinyl mit Booklet, als YELLOW MARBLE-Vinyl mit Booklet und als Super-Deluxe-Doppel-CD inklusive einer 10-Track-Bonus-CD mit exklusiven Aufnahmen und alternativen Mixes erhältlich sein.