Here’s something about the songs ...
ELENA ~ separation, distance, that fear of never reconnecting with your partner. Musically we looked towards Cuban meets Ethiopian jazz, which you can hear in the scale of the keyboard lines. Kiernan Box knew exactly what to do after that directive. Graham Lee flew in some unusual pedal steel, that sounds more like lap steel to me, bringing something of his own to the song. It’s a real hotchpotch of sounds.
THE LAST MAN ON EARTH ~ I wrote this instrumental for brass at the kitchen table one morning. I’d worked with Jack Howard in some early Scott Walker shows and had seen him with Hunters and Collectors over the years, then he guested with The Blackeyed Susans when we performed with strings at The Recital Centre. I love his playing, his tone. He plays both trumpet and flugelhorn. With this track we exchanged ideas through home recordings which ended up as the bed of the track. As a final touch I asked Shane Reilly from Lost Ragas to add some strings ... to me it sounds a little French, a little chic, a little soft and sad.
STANDING NEXT TO DAVID ~ came late from my song gifts project, too late to be included on the double album, but then became part of my live set. Mike Brown, a massive Triffids fan, has a fair amount of adoration for David McComb and the album Born Sandy Devotional. My memories are intertwined with his. The song then segues into the love of his partner and the hope of one day coming to Australia and driving the Nullarbor plain and seeing The Swan River.
MY FRIEND TOO ~ here’s the first of my guest singers to the album, the magnificent Romy Vager. I love the way Romy’s voice cuts through the chaos and she sings with both grace and gusto. I wanted to mimic the Velvet Underground a little at the end ~ in particular John Cale’s thumping piano approach. Written after seeing the documentary Love In Bright Landscapes.
VIOLETS AND CHERRY BLOSSOMS ~ Doctor Smith come out to play. Lost in Space meets Lounge Jazz. The song is set in my neck of the woods and surroundings, things I see through the seasons. Kelly Day from The Broads sings the sweetest harmonies with me. I worship anyone who can sing harmonies so effortlessly like her. A little Waitsian with the wandering hands of Kiernan Box on piano at the intro and the outro.
SWEET EDIE ~ is the tale of my partner’s aunty, sung by the wonderful Peter Milton Walsh from The Apartments. Edie was a single mother in the sixties, she hid her pregnancy from her family under a tram conductor's winter coat, which she wore through the house, 24/7, through the seasons, up until the day she gave birth ... incredible tale. Must have been so lonesome and blue.
FEELING KIND OF BLUE ~ I’ve always loved Rebecca Barnard’s voice. One of the warmest and funniest beings in my musical sphere. I had written this song with a female voice in mind, Rebecca being the obvious choice. It’s a play on the Mile Davis album title, a song about an affair that wanes, a message without any malice.
YOU’LL SEE THE MOON ~ my song of hope and a little tribute of mine to Peter Milton Walsh’s band ~ The Apartments. I have jingle-bells that I bought from a music shop for about $10, but they sounded so glorious that we put them on almost everything whilst recording. We went a little bell~mad! I love the way the band opens this track, improvised, loose and my glorious, shimmering bells.
GIVE THE MAN A COIN ~ I always give people living on the street money, I figure if it’s gotten this tough you need something; and a coin or two out of my pocket is nothing compared to what you might be going through. I’ve admired Gareth Liddiard over the years. I loved his solo album and the way he mangles words so beautifully; he sounds like he’s swallowed a rusted diesel engine. I sent Gareth the song and he re-worked it to fit what he was comfortable with singing. So great.
POOR FLORENCE BROADHURST ~ was a Sydney celebrity designer. Born in outback Queensland but took on the world as a dancer and musician ~ touring south~east Asia and China in the late 20s, then marrying a stockbroker in London. Eventually she returned to Australia. She was was found bludgeoned to death in her Paddington studio with a lump of wood, and her murder has never been solved ... poor, poor Florence Broadhurst.
ALL I WANT TO DO IS SLEEP ~ I guess the title says it all. Dealing with grief, depression, things that are out of our control. I imagined what some of my friends have been going through after the loss of their partners and friends and created this song from my observations and imagination.
