KAT GRETA SHARES UPBEAT NEW SINGLE + VIDEO ‘SEASON TO BELIEVE’
Multi-instrumentalist Kat Greta returns today armed with a sparkling new pop direction via her brand new single Season To Believe. An upbeat slice of sonic freshness from the Melbourne-based songwriter, Season To Believe is also accompanied by a vivid animated music visualiser reflecting the empowered lyricism and whimsical overarching wiles.
Marking a shift from her trademark combination of retro pop, classic rock and folk, Season To Believe finds Greta embracing a stripped-back yet polished production, exploring more buoyant pop sensibilities alongside inspiration from Fleetwood Mac, Cat Stevens and Haim. Co-produced, engineered, mixed and mastered by Lindsay Gravina, Season To Believe is a sweet and energetic ode to Greta’s own creative and personal journey, celebrating liberation in colourful fashion, as Greta explains, “Releasing this song feels like another step in my musical journey, which keeps evolving. It is a different sound for me; I got to play around with pop production for the first time, which was both a huge learning experience and a heap of fun at the same time. It is about believing in myself, and finding my own voice in this musical space, both literally and stylistically. I never had the confidence to sing my own songs, so that is something that I had to overcome. It’s about learning to follow my intuition, and trusting my gut instinct.”
Featuring a colourful semi-abstract wonderland by Greta’s sister Helen Di Tomasso for Season To Believe’s artwork, the single also takes on colourful new life via its accompanying music video which was conceived and brought to life by Greta herself. Visually tracking its protagonist’s journey, the clip dazzles with bright colours while drawing the overarching percolating beats and smooth vocals into an animated universe. And the visualiser’s lively flair seamlessly extended from a synaesthetic creative spark, as Greta shares, “I always imagined this song in colours, so I wanted the video to be bright with some retro vibes, just like the music. You can see the journey of the girl in the video, gaining more and more confidence through to the chorus, where she dances and bursts with joy.”
A formidable storyteller and creative, Kat Greta’s homespun songs brim with connectivity and authenticity, alongside her commanding vocals and dazzling stage presence that has adhered her as a shining star in the adult contemporary space. Forging a love for music in her childhood home, Greta’s eclectic early musical influences spanned Kiss, Led Zeppelin, ABBA and Prince. Exploring her talent and interests at an early age, Greta’s prowess spans piano, violin, drums, singing, orchestral percussion, theory and composition, with her love for pop music of the 60s and 70s also burgeoning her affinity for melody, harmonies, rhythms and arranging. Since the release of her debut single Let It Go, taken from her 2022 EP Get Up & Go, Kat’s modernity mixed with empowerment has snapped heads over the past few years.
With performances lined up in October, November and December in Victoria to close out 2023, Greta’s latest single Season To Believe will be on full display, as will her entire band ready to deliver unforgettable moments, as Greta concludes, “Although this is definitely a pop track, our live performances will remain more of a rock show with lots of instruments on stage. When I perform with my full band, they just bring out so much energy, and there’s no knowing what I’ll end up doing. It can get a bit crazy.”
Season To Believe is out today, Friday September 29.
KAT GRETA – UPCOMING TOUR DATES:
SAT 07 OCT | GODS BANDROOM, MORNINGTON VIC | 18+
Tickets available from www.eventbrite.com | 1800 934 125 | All Eventbrite Outlets
SAT 14 OCT | TOMKATZ, SORRENTO VIC | ALL AGES
Tickets available from www.trybooking.com | 03 9012 3460 | All Trybooking Outlets
SUN 19 NOV | TAPROOM SHEDSHAKER BREWING, CASTLEMAINE VIC | ALL AGES | FREE
SUN 10 DEC | SHIRAZ REPUBLIC, CORNELLA VIC | ALL AGES | FREE
JEBEDIAH MAKE TRIUMPHANT RETURN WITH FIRST NEW SINGLE IN 12 YEARS, GUM UP THE BEARINGS ALONGSIDE NATIONAL TOUR ANNOUNCE + SET TO BE INDUCTED INTO WAM HALL OF FAME NOV 16
After more than 12 years between drinks, beloved Perth rockers Jebediah have emerged from their slumber, announcing their triumphant return with a bang thanks to new single, Gum Up The Bearings. Their first release in collaboration with Cooking Vinyl Australia, and first piece of new music since the release of 2011’s Kosciuszko (which hit #6 on the ARIA charts), Gum Up The Bearings is what fans’ ears have waited years for, with the energetic piece of pop-rock showcasing the group’s classic fun-loving approach to their craft, while providing a look at the musical evolution that has transpired in the years since.
And the band will be honouring the new single in style, announcing a national tour for November hitting Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney and Perth, also jumping in on the Good Things festival lineup set for early December.
Tickets to the Gum Up The Bearings tour are on sale now from https://www.jebediah.net/
Describing their new single as being rooted in both the past and the present, Gum Up The Bearings has been a long time coming for Jebediah, who first entered the studio to work on new music back in 2018. Working alongside longtime collaborator – and honorary fifth band member – Dave Parkin (Red Jezebel, Spacey Jane) at his Blackbird Studios in the band’s native Perth, Gum Up The Bearings is the sound of a band who, even after almost three decades in the game, are still making music as fresh and as vibrant as they ever have.
“It doesn’t feel like that many years have passed since Kosciuszko, but that’s part of the phenomenon of becoming middle aged, I suppose. In some respects, it’s quite a relief, as we started working on new music back in 2018 and then so much happened during the ensuing years that could have easily just killed the whole project altogether. However, I think maybe sheer tenacity won out in the end, and here we are with a brand new song, some five years later. Apart from being a relief, it also feels like an accomplishment for Jebediah to still be creating new music after nearly 30 years together – we’re not ready to be a nostalgia act just yet,” explains guitarist and vocalist Kevin Mitchell.
Unlike much of Jebediah’s previous work, Gum Up The Bearings began life solely in the studio, with the band having entered proceedings with no idea of what they’d want a contemporary version of Jebediah to sound like. With no prior plans, inspirations, or aspirations, the quartet simply began jamming – making music like they used to in their earliest days. The result is a song which captures that sense of wide-eyed wonder that captivated Aussie audiences so swiftly back in the ‘90s, while utilising a progressive lean thanks to new instrumentation, including some expertly-placed sax courtesy of Thea Woodward.
“Chris mentioned something about gumming up the bearings on his skateboard. He would often skate to the studio” recalls Kevin of the song’s origin. “Anyway, we must have been coming up with the song at the time and I was searching for something to sing and those words just fitted perfectly with the noise we were making. The song’s a bit tongue-in-cheek really, and doesn’t warrant a great deal of analysis. It’s just the sound of the band making noise again after a really long time away. We recorded a long outro to it which we thought might just fade out but then we had the genius idea of adding saxophone to it, which is played on the record by Thea who plays in a couple of other bands with Vanessa. It was too good to fade out after that.”
Alongside the release of the track, Gum Up The Bearings also comes accompanied by a video clip directed by the band’s close friend and documentarian Arlo Cook. As with everything Arlo has created for the band over the years, the visual accompaniment is designed to capture the very essence of Jebediah.
As Kevin explains, “Arlo Cook made the clip using footage that he has been taking of the band since 2015. He has followed us everywhere, to gigs all across Australia as well as the many studio sessions over the years. The song is very much a snapshot of what the band is in its purest and most raw form so the video clip is designed to reflect that.”
Most importantly, Gum Up The Bearings is the sound of a band who are still making music in the most genuine and authentic way possible, three decades into their career. Ever since they first formed back in 1995, Jebediah seemed bound for greatness. With 1997’s debut album Slightly Odway generating singles like Leaving Home, Jerks Of Attention, and Harpoon, their enigmatic and endearing nature was cemented with 1999’s Of Someday Shambles. 2001’s Jebediah and 2004’s Braxton Hicks further proved their longevity and consistency as artists, before a few years of self-imposed hiatus was broken with the release of Kosciuszko in 2011. Fittingly, this iconic Perth band has today been announced to be inducted into the WAM Hall of Fame, to be presented at the WA Music Awards (WAM Awards) on Thursday 16 November.
Though Jebediah haven’t been actively releasing new music across the last 12 years, they’ve 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, Chrisworked at a record store, and Kevin has focused heavily on his Bob Evans project. As Kevin explains though, one of the biggest keys to the group’s enduring status as one of Australia’s most beloved and consistently successful groups is due to their everlasting bond as a humble four-piece, and the friendship and fanbase they’ve forged.
“As Brett put it some time ago, the secret to longevity as a band is not to break up. I’m sure we have had just as many reasons as any other band to break up at various points in our career but we just have always decided to keep going. If the band was purely a business for us then we would have shut up shop by now. But Jebediah is family to the four of us. We have all grown up together since we were babies. It’s not something we have ever wanted to walk away from. Besides that, there is a small army of loyal supporters who have stuck with us along the way which gives us a reason to keep going out and playing shows. We are also not ready to settle into the comfy armchair of pure nostalgia, so creating new music has become a really important reason for the band to continue. We still enjoy getting out and playing shows in front of people but we are also curious to see where we can push the band creatively so I suppose those are the two vital ingredients for us at the moment,” Kevin explains.
To celebrate the release of Gum Up The Bearings, Jebediah will be hitting the road in November for a series of headline shows across capital cities in November, with a handful of appearances at the Good Things festival set to follow in December.
Gum Up The Bearings is out today via Cooking Vinyl Australia.
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:
SAT 4 NOV | LION ARTS FACTORY, ADELAIDE SA | 18+
Tickets available from www.moshtix.com.au | 1300 GET TIX | All Moshtix Outlets
THU 9 NOV | THE ZOO, BRISBANE QLD | 18+
Tickets available from www.oztix.com.au | 1300 762 545 | All Oztix Outlets
FRI 10 NOV | ESPY GERSHWIN, MELBOURNE VIC | 18+
Tickets available from www.oztix.com.au | 1300 762 545 | All Oztix Outlets
SAT 11 NOV | CROWBAR, SYDNEY NSW | 18+
Tickets available from www.oztix.com.au | 1300 762 545 | All Oztix Outlets
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
ISLA NOON SHARES NEW SINGLE + VIDEO ‘BODY’
Lush, hypnotic and brimming with alt pop whimsy, the brand new single Body from Aotearoa New Zealand artist Isla Noon is an electrifying ode to growing up from one of the scene’s most exciting up-and-comers. A dynamic addition to Isla Noon’s ever-growing repertoire, Body is also accompanied by an enigmatic music video featuring the artist herself in a potent display against a fittingly eerie locale.
A single lathered in introspection and intelligent, dense pop sensibilities, Body was originally conceived by Isla Noon in her bedroom, with its early form veering towards ballad territory. Embracing inspiration from the likes of MUNA, Caroline Polachek, Wolf Alice and Troye Sivan, the end result for Body morphed from Isla Noon’s own private musings into a song with ricocheting relatability; and following Isla Noon teaming up with friend and collaborator Maude Morris, Body soon became a robust and vibrant affirmation for self-esteem, vulnerability and the ever-complex road to growing up, as she explains, “It was when I brought the song in to produce with Maude Morris that we realised we needed to embrace the chaos. We pushed the dynamics to the limit when it became clear that the song wanted to take up a lot of space – and so we let it. Growing up, it was always very important to me to be recognised for my ideas, for my creative work, for what I had to say. As I grew into a young woman, I became uncomfortable with the sense that my physical form was preceding those things, that the way I was perceived and treated seemed to hinge on how I looked, dressed, and carried my body. At times, this body felt like a risky vehicle to be in. From such an early age we are flooded with input and commentary on what is and isn’t ok about our bodies. It’s such an overwhelming intrusion on what is really a private relationship. Writing Body was a step toward excavating some of that unwelcome noise from my own mind and extending a quiet peace offering to myself. I think of Body as reclamation of self. I put it forward in all its messy self-contradiction and intensity, in all its cautious intimacy, in all its strength and light.”
With Morris on production and engineering duties, alongside Chris van de Geer, Body’s commanding holistic experience heightens further via its accompanying music video. Directed by Oshara Ardelean, a cinematographer and director also renowned for her work with fellow Kiwi indie artist Kiki Rockwell, the visual accompaniment to Body finds Noon’s raw lyricism and clever arrangement soaring to greater heights in one of the spookiest places Auckland has to offer, as Noon reveals, “I knew from the outset that I wanted to work with a female director for this video and approached Oshara Ardelean, who had co-directed the video for my previous single I Need To Go Home, with an idea for a follow-shot style video that I had in mind for Body. We heard through the grapevine about a mysterious location – a storeroom building at the now closed, and for the most part abandoned, Kingseat Hospital. It is considered the most haunted place in Auckland, and there’s a lot of history, so it was a pretty unforgettable experience shooting the video there. The building we shot in really shaped the final storyboard, which Oshara and I wrote together. Throughout the video, I wanted to play with the idea of making the psychological space physical. The camera functions as a reflection of self that I am at first curious about and questioning, then hesitant to trust, and later fearful of and trying to outrun. The building I travel through represents a headspace, a place where I am alone with myself and that doesn’t always feel safe. Ultimately, I find a way out of this place but instead of leaving, I turn back – thinking maybe it doesn’t have to be like this, maybe I don’t have to run from myself any longer.”
Emerging in 2020 with hit tracks Summer in August, Talk About Us and I Need To Go Home, Isla Noon has swiftly established herself as a dexterous and fresh songwriter. Weaving her unique, alt pop universe, Isla Noon’s releases have been described by Rolling Stone as “glistening dance-pop perfection”, while her musical journey itself stems back to listening to Boney M’s The Rivers of Babylon every night before bed; a core memory and key inspiration for this sharp and engaging artist. Embracing pop music as a vehicle for both physical and emotional release, Isla Noon’s foundational years saw her devouring her parents’ CD collection, with Boney M, Leonard Cohen and lashings of 80s pop morphing alongside her later influences, including Caroline Polachek, Muna, Wolf Alice, Lorde and Robyn. From starting guitar lessons at the age of 10 to studying music at university, Isla Noon’s pensive and vibrant style ultimately took full flight when she harnessed her post-graduate free fall into seeking creative fulfillment and breaking down her own walls as an artist and as a human. Thus, Islan Noon the artist truly arrived.
An avid lover of science and pop, Isla Noon’s carefully-crafted and crystal clear creations, alongside her seamless ongoing collaboration with producer Maude Morris, is now set to build towards a groundbreaking album on the horizon; and for Isla Noon, the continued transition from her solitary creating to sharing her creations with the world is one she is entirely ready for, with Body marking the perfect perpetuation of her incredible journey to date, as she concludes, “Writing Body was such a private experience but when I finished it I realised I just couldn’t leave it there. Almost like the song was saying “hey, I’ve turned into something so much bigger than just you! Release me!”. Playing early versions of it to friends, I realised very quickly that it took on a lot of varied meaning for different people. In that sense it feels like the song is already charting its own course in other lives beyond mine.”
Body is out today, Friday September 22.