ELLIE LOVEGROVE SHARES SOARING NEW SINGLE ‘I’M GONNA FLY’ FEATURING THE LATE GREAT UNCLE ARCHIE ROACH + ‘SONGS FROM THE KITCHEN TABLE’ AN ILLUSTRATED COMMEMORATION OF ICONIC ARTISTS ARCHIE ROACH + RUBY HUNTER OUT TODAY
A soaring and potently stirring debut outing from Ngarrindjeri singer-songwriter Ellie Lovegrove, the brand new single I’m Gonna Fly features none other than the late great Archie Roach AO, with the revered storyteller’s familiar vocals seamlessly blending into Lovegrove’s empowered tones. A soulful celebration of growth and letting go, I’m Gonna Fly also heralds the release of Songs from the Kitchen Table; the ultimate illustrated commemoration of iconic Australian creatives Archie Roach and Ruby Hunter. Vividly told in songs, stories, photographs and tributes, Songs from the Kitchen Table is set for release today, Wednesday November 15.
Following ongoing collaborations with an array of esteemed Australian musicians over the years, I’m Gonna Fly unveils Ellie Lovegrove’s first official single release, with the poignant serenity flowing throughout the track attesting to Lovegrove’s powerful growth and aspiration that she experienced alongside reaching out to Archie Roach himself after spending time on the road with the iconic late artist. “After sharing some time touring with Uncle Archie and listening to his stories, I had commuted back to Adelaide and written the song in a time of deep reflection,” shares Lovegrove of the I’m Gonna Fly origin story. “With just the first verse and the chorus, I wasn’t sure as to where to go next and humbly asked if Uncle Archie would be interested in hearing what I had and if he would be interested in collaborating on the piece. I had no expectations, if anything I just wanted to share with him as he had with me and I was deeply taken back when I was told Uncle had included a verse to the song. To then be able to intertwine our voices together in the last chorus was a really special moment for me. I’m Gonna Fly is a song I wrote about breaking free from things I felt were holding me back from being true to myself. It’s about personal growth and being in alignment with my miwi (Spirit) and trusting that despite the trials and tribulations I may face, if I am true to myself and my spirit, I will prosper, spiritually, mentally and therefore physically. This song is very sentimental, and it is about growth, letting go and overcoming those heavy feelings change can bring. I feel as though it will create a life of its own as different people interpret the lyrics to their own circumstances.”
Working alongside producer Craig Pilkington to bring the glowing new single to life, alongside a beautiful accompanying animated clip, I’m Gonna Fly extended Lovegrove’s personal experiences into sublime new heights, with her musical journey coming full circle from growing up watching Archie Roach on TV to the pair performing I’m Gonna Fly live in person together at Adelaide Fringe in 2015. “The first and last time I had the privilege of performing this song with Uncle Archie was in the Spiegeltent at the Adelaide Fringe when I had opened for him,” reveals Lovegrove. “I grew up watching Uncle Archie sing on TV. Having all of my family telling me how he was singing of the experiences our people have faced, I never would have thought that I would get to meet him let alone work/share space and stories and collaborate with him one day. Uncle Archie with the support of Aunty Ruby, to me, are to be considered one of our community’s most precious Story Tellers and Song Keepers. Their voices and music are timeless, and their stories will live on through all those that have had the privilege of hearing them.”
Fittingly released on the same day as the incredible new book Songs from the Kitchen Table, I’m Gonna Fly continues the soaring and enduring legacy of Archie Roach and his craft, as well as the love of music he shared with his life partner and long-time musical collaborator Ruby Hunter. Featuring stunning illustrations, lyrics to over one hundred of Uncle Archie and Aunty Ruby’s songs, stories behind the compositions, artwork and beyond, Songs from the Kitchen Table was lovingly curated by Archie’s manager and friend Jill Shelton, with forewords also penned by the duo’s friends and musical collaborators, including Emma Donovan, Paul Kelly and Jack Latimore. A snapshot and a celebration of one of Australia’s greatest creative partnerships, Songs from the Kitchen Table also offers a testament to the ongoing power of plain-spoken truths.
A gifted singer-songwriter, mother, Aboriginal health worker and community advocate for First Nations People, Ellie Lovegrove has been sharing her stunning vocals with the world since the age of 10, first performing for her family and friends before inescapably capturing the hearts of Australia as a Top 12 finalist on Australia’s X Factor in 2013. Mentored and coached by international artist and producer RedFoo during her time on X Factor, Lovegrove went on to be the recipient of the New and Emerging Talent Award at the National Deadly Awards in 2013, and also won the Channel 9 Young Achiever of the Year Award, and the NAIDOC Youth of the Year Award for the SA Southeast. Over the years, Lovegrove has also connected and collaborated with the likes of Troy Cassar-Daley, Jessica Mauboy, Emma Donovan, Emily Wurramura and Paul Kelly, and has previously teamed up with hip hop artist Jimblah, which also saw her feature on two triple j Like A Version peformances. A popular and sought-after performer at First Nations corporate events in South Australia, Lovegrove recently featured on Tony Minniecon’s single The Truth in 2021, a song for reconciliation written by Minniecon which was debuted live at the annual Reconciliation SA National Reconciliation Week Breakfast.
Armed with a remarkable vocal range, a passion for caring for community and a sonic warmth that permeates beyond her creations and unforgettably into your soul, Ellie Lovegrove is a breath of positivity on the Australian musical landscape, and her debut single alongside one of the all-time greats is a spectacular introduction into Lovegrove’s brand new creative chapter, as she concludes, “I am very excited to be releasing my very first single. I am deeply honoured that my first ever single will be one that I was able to collaborate with Uncle Archie on. It has great sentimental value to me and has been sitting in the archive for some time, so to be invited to share it in partnership with Uncle Archie’s song book is incredible.”
I’m Gonna Fly and Songs from the Kitchen Table out Wednesday November 15.
JEBEDIAH ANNOUNCE FIRST NEW ALBUM IN 12 YEARS, ‘OIKS’ + SHARE TRANSCENDENTAL NEW SINGLE AND VIDEO ‘RUBBERMAN’
Fresh from the release of their first new single in 12 years, beloved Perth rockers Jebediah have upped the ante once again, with new single Rubberman appearing alongside the long-awaited news of their new album, OIKS. The forthcoming record – their first new album since 2011’s Kosciuszko – will arrive on April 12th, 2024, with pre-orders available now via Cooking Vinyl Australia.
Their sixth album, OIKS isn’t necessarily the return of Jebediah, who have been consistently active in the time since their last record, but rather, a snapshot of where the band find themselves in the current era. Like lead single Gum Up The Bearings, the record was born out of experimentation while in the studio with longtime collaborator – and honorary fifth band member – Dave Parkin (Red Jezebel, Spacey Jane). The result is an album which sees Jebediah feeling content with who they are as artists – not attempting to create the energetic hype of 1997 debut Slightly Odway, but crafting a release which feels representative of modern-day Jebediah.
While the release of September’s Gum Up The Bearings was a true return to form for the WA quartet, Rubberman continues their evolving musical trajectory; pairing their revered, singular attitude towards music making with a dedication to crafting something wholly unique. Noting that their new single “sounds different to any song the band has put out” before, Rubberman began life when the band first entered Dave’s Blackbird Studios back in 2018 without any indication of what they wanted to create, the band let themselves become influenced by jam sessions and the resulting sounds. Using effects and loops as the starting point to Rubberman, the group experimented heavily with melody and atmosphere, allowing guitarist and vocalist Kevin Mitchell’s voice to take on a prominent role, sitting atop a luscious and spacious marriage of indie-rock and dream-pop. The result is a song which equally feels unlike anything Jebediah have ever produced, yet effortlessly slides into their expansive discography as a track emblematic of their continuous musical evolution.
“This one came about by accident. Whilst setting up a guitar for overdubbing we accidentally recorded the sound of it with really loose strings. This sound was turned into a loop and became the bedrock of a new song; a sort of weird melodic rhythmic loop track. The whole thing was built on top of that. It reflects an experimentalism in the studio that we have not really embraced before and so it sounds different to anything we’ve ever written or recorded before,” recalls Kevin.
Alongside the release of the single, Jebediah have taken an almost full-circle approach to its accompanying visuals, sharing a beautifully-animatedclip by Gina Moore. Having initially worked with the band to craft the video to their 1997 single Harpoon, Gina now works at RMIT teaching 3D animation and visual effects in the Animation and Interactive Media program. Taking time to once again create a video for the group, Gina took inspiration from the cover illustration to James Bridle’s book Ways Of Being, the paintings of Clarice Beckett, and her own work, and worked with RMIT students Jack Cornish and Eddy Faulkner to produce the final product.
“I loved Rubberman as soon as I heard it and listened to it many times while walking my dog. After playing the song over and over for several weeks, I created a storyboard in just a few hours. It came easily because my mind was full of imagery that had percolated on repeated walks through Melbourne’s windy parklands. Like the song, I wanted the video to be evocative or experiential and wasn’t concerned with having a definitive meaning or narrative. The song lends itself to a journey, a figure walking through a landscape. I wanted the mood to start tranquil and get increasingly chaotic as invisible forces become evident (deforming the landscape and producing colourful ribbons). I wanted it to feel Australian and to allude to global concerns including the proliferation of plastics in the environment. Although addressing dark and depressing themes, the clip needed to be visually appealing,” explains Gina.
Both Rubberman and previous single Gum Up The Bearings will appear on Jebediah’s forthcoming album, OIKS, which will arrive on April 12th, 2024. Pre-orders for the album are available now via Cooking Vinyl Australia. Though their first new album since 2011’s Kosciuszko, the group have not been far from our hearts – or stages. In addition to sporadic tours and frequent live shows, the respective members of Jebediah have remained busy: Vanessa and Brett played in bands, Chris worked at a record store, and Kevin has focused heavily on his Bob Evans project.
Currently, Jebediah are out on the road, wrapping up a highly-anticipated Aussie tour which has seen them perform intense headline gigs in Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney. The group will wrap up their current run of shows with a headline gig in Perth on Friday, 17 November, before joining the Good Things festival lineup for a whip-around the country at the start of December. Prior to wrapping up their current run of dates, though, Jebediah will also have their name cemented in Western Australian music history, when they’re inducted into the WAM Hall Of Fame as part of the WA Music Awards on Thursday, 16 November.
Rubberman is out today via Cooking Vinyl Australia.
OIKS will be released on 12 April, 2024 via Cooking Vinyl Australia, pre-order bundles available here.
Final tickets to the Gum Up The Bearings tour are on sale now from https://www.jebediah.net/
The WAM Hall Of Fame induction will take place at the WA Music Awards on Thursday 16 November at Regal Theatre.
JEBEDIAH – AUSTRALIAN TOUR:
Tickets available from Oztix
FRI 17 NOV | THE RECHABITE, PERTH WA | 18+
Tickets available from https://www.jebediah.net/
FRI 1 DEC – GOOD THINGS FESTIVAL, MELB, VIC
SAT 2 DEC | GOOD THINGS FESTIVAL, SYD, NSW
SUN 3 DEC – GOOD THINGS FESTIVAL, BRIS, QLD
MAMMAL SHARE EXPLOSIVE NEW SINGLE + VIDEO KEANU REEVES
Narrm neo punk/funk warriors Mammal target misinformation in scintillating fashion, with their explosive new single Keanu Reeves officially out in the world today, and also marking the band’s first new material since 2022. Fittingly accompanied by a music video inspired by one of the actual Keanu Reeves’ most iconic cinematic moments, the brand new Mammal outing will also be witnessed taking full, ferocious flight this December, with a special single launch show taking place on Friday December 22 at The Evelyn Hotel as part of the reinstatement of the traditional Mammal Christmas Party.
Named for the Internet’s Boyfriend while also laden with the trademark Mammal spitfire stylings, Keanu Reeves finds the Melbourne quartet embracing spacious frustration and brutal neo-scream in musically muscular fashion. Drawing sonic inspiration from the equally powerful likes of Rage Against the Machine, Jimi Hendrix, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Public Enemy, Metallica and Clutch, Keanu Reeves also brought Mammaltogether with the multi-platinum awarded Jimi “The Island” Maroudas (The Avalanches, Tim Rogers, The Living End) on producing duties, as well as engineering by Tyson Fish and mixing by long-time Mammal collaborator Forrester Savell (Karnivool, Helmet, Sunk Loto). Full of riotous beats, elasticated basslines and the voracious vocal delivery of frontman Ezekiel Ox, Keanu Reeves is a lyrically pop culture-laden powerhouse beating with a timely thematic core, as Ox elaborates, “We started writing for our new album, and Pete [Williamson] and Zane [Rosanoski] came up with the original Keanu Reeves song. I flew down for a couple of days of drinking, smoking and freestyle, and the song came out. It’s about misinformation, and the need for humans to be able to agree on an objective reality to survive. It’s grim out there at the moment, Orwellian. But in the end, some things are real. We name check Tracy Chapman in the song too, which is exciting.”
Continuing their music video hallmark of live performances, the accompanying clip for Keanu Reeves draws irreverent yet powerful inspiration from a bona fide 90s action movie classic, Mammal-style. With long-time friend and creative collaborator Dean J Miller shooting and editing, the end result for the Keanu Reeves music video proves that humour and hard-hitting thematics can truly go hand in hand, with the end result also featuring a local Narrm coastal setting to backdrop the memorable clip. “Mammal always performs live in our clips,” shares Ox. “The dancing is important to our culture and mission, so we set up at a local Narrm beach for the live stuff. The clip is a tongue-in-cheek recreation of the original Point Break, which of course starred Keanu Reeves alongside the late Patrick Swayze. Expect chase scenes, tuxedos and ex-Presidents of the USA galore. The concept? Have fun and make something entertaining, it’s not rocket surgery.”
Since forming and releasing their debut self-titled EP in 2006, Mammal have toured relentlessly while also crafting a formidable reputation for their animated live performances, timeless sonic creations and authentic, working-class political activism that has garnered the quartet an ever-growing cult-like status across the globe. Revered as a “must see” rock’n’roll juggernaut, Mammal’s back catalogue includes their striking singles Smash The Pinata, The Majority, Hell Yeah! and Think, with their touring history also spanning headline shows in London, Perth, Auckland, Brisbane and everywhere in between, as well as supports with some of the heavy scene’s towering giants, including Kiss, Avenged Sevenfold, Sebastian Bach, Cog, Grinspoon, Spiderbait and Shihad to name a mere few. A band who also walk the walk alongside their musical calls-to-action, Mammal have also previously volunteered their live services, raising much-needed funds for various charities, supporting Interchange, the Refugee Action Collective and Fitzroy Legal Service over the years.
Now primed to release their sophomore studio album The Penny Drop in 2024, the long-awaited follow up to the band’s debut full length The Majority in 2008, Mammal are ready once again to fly their commanding flag for meaningful rock’n’roll with a newfound and dynamic vigour. And, as Ox concludes, Mammal are entirely locked and loaded to light the fire loudly and proudly once more, with Keanu Reeves gifting the perfect kindling to close out 2023, and leading into an unforgettable 2024 from the band. “We feel ready and raring to go,” says Ox. “We say what we want, how we want and play loud and proud. We believe that at its best, rock and roll is a form of rebellion. Punters know when they come to the show that we give shit, about the music, about them. About their schools and unis, their hospitals and parks, their housing situation. Their favourite bands. We always punch up, and we aren’t pulling the ladder up behind us.”
Keanu Reeves is out today, Wednesday November 15.
The Penny Drop is set for release in 2024.
MAMMAL – TOUR DATES;
FRI 22 DEC | THE EVELYN HOTEL, MELBOURNE VIC | 18+
Tickets available from www.mammal.oztix.com.au | 1300 762 545 | All Oztix Outlets